6 new banks launching in South Africa soon

Source: Biztech, 23/07/2018

South Africa is expected to see at least six new banks and banking
services launch in the coming months, including the likes of Discovery
Bank and Bank Zero �` a mutual bank co-founded by former FNB CEO
Michael Jordaan.
Others include two names South Africans are already familiar with �`
African Bank, which is planning to launch transactional services, and
Postbank, which is the Post Office’s foray into full service banking �`
and Tyme Digital and the niche Young Women in Business Network
Cooperative Financial Institution.
Here’s the latest updates on when the banks are expected to launch:
Discovery Bank
Discovery has offered financial services through FNB for a number of
years, but it is now preparing to launch its own full-service bank
offering.
Group CEO, Adrian Gore, said in February 2018 that the group was “on
track” to launch its bank in 2018, at a cost of R1.5 billion.
The bank will leverage its current services with FNB �` of which it has
more than 230,000 primary card holders �` and is in talks to take over
those accounts (pending competition approval). It will compete
directly with the big retail banks.
On Monday, it was announced that Home Affairs director-general Mkuseli
Apleni has resigned from the government department to join Discovery
Bank in an executive role, indicating that the bank was getting closer
to a full launch. Apleni said he will join Discovery Bank from August
2018.
Speaking to BusinessTech, Discovery said that it was still on track
for a launch in the second half of 2018, as previously indicated.
“There is currently substantial testing underway and we’re excited to
bring our offering to market,” it said.
Discovery had in excess of 3.4 million members according to its 2017
annual report.
Bank Zero
Unlike the other well publicized bank’s entering the market, Bank Zero
will operate as a mutual savings bank and not a retail bank.
A mutual bank is owned by its members who subscribe to a common fund
while a retail bank is generally owned by shareholders, who may not be
customers of the bank. Because of this model, these types of banks
tend to be smaller and offer limited services. often focusing on
savings, rather than credit.
Bank Zero follows this trend and will not offer credit. It will be
entirely digital and handle all of its services and communications via
an app. It is going against the traditional banking grain, and
targeting a younger, more tech savvy market that wants to do their
banking the same way they interact with other digital media.
When Bank Zero was first announced, co-founder Michael Jordaan said
the ‘hope’ was that Bank Zero would launch at the end of 2018 �`
however in subsequent posts to social media, the banking exec
indicated that this had moved to “early 2019“.
In response to emails asking about the launch, Bank Zero said that it
has gone to ground with all its teams working on creating “the Google
of banking”, and no correspondence would be given.
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Tyme Digital
It was reported earlier in July that the Commonwealth Bank of
Australia (CBA) �` which owns 90% of Tyme Digital �` is reviewing its
position in the local market, and may sell its stake in Tyme to its
local partner, African Rainbow Capital.
Despite the talks of shareholder changes, the bank is still expected
to launch. The group has already been operating in South Africa with a
money transfer service, and said it plans to launch its full banking
services in 2018.
Tyme Digital is targeting retail customers and small, medium and micro
enterprises within the low to middle income class.
It has not committed to any specific launch date, with the last
message in June 2018 being that “we’re excited to be officially
launching towards the end of this year“.
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African Bank
African Bank has steadily built up its deposits following a well
documented curatorship, and is gearing itself towards again offering a
transactional banking account, called the My World account.
Earlier in the year, the My World account was being tested internally
among African Bank employees, with an expected launch date “later” in
2018.
Speaking to BusinessTech, the bank said it is progressing well with
its plans to launch a transactional banking product into the South
African market with a phased approach expected in the last quarter of
2018 and continuing into 2019.
“The concept of family or community banking is what will differentiate
this product and African Bank. This product is priced and structured
in a way that will definitely appeal to South Africans,” it said.
“Customers will be able to manage their My World account through the
African Bank website, the app, or their cell phone 24/7. The fees on
My World will also be extremely competitive. As with our
market-leading savings and investment rates, African Bank will
continue a trend where additional value is offered to our customers.”
Postbank
Postbank already provides savings accounts and allows for fixed-term
deposits and simple transactions, however it has much bigger plans,
including extending its services to become a full service bank that
can accept deposits and offer cards and other products.
However, to get there, the Post Office first needs to get a banking
licence �` and at the end of April 2018, it was reported that no
decision has yet been taken to grant one, despite hopes that the
process would have been completed by then.
According to Telecoms and Postal Services minister, Siyabonga Cwele,
the bank should ultimately meet the Reserve Bank’s requirements and be
able to conclude its transition to a full bank by March 2019.
Postbank will not compete with the commercial banks, Cwele said, and
would hold a more developmental role in the financial services industry.
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Young Women in Business Network
The YWBN is a far more niche banking group that is not targeting ‘big
bank’ success. The women-led bank currently operates on a stokvel
model of co-operative banking, but is building itself up to becoming a
fully-fledged, registered co-operative bank.
Co-operative banks are wholly-owned by their members, who carry the
risk. YWBN, specifically, is targeting black entrepreneurs and the
informal economy �` a sector largely neglected or ignored by the big
South African banks.
Executive chair, Nthabeleng Likotsi, said the bank is targeting 1,000
members by February 2019, which is the minimum required by the Reserve
Bank for the group to qualify as a co-operative bank.
People can already apply to be a part of the bank, though there is a
R10,000 minimum share capital deposit fee, and an annual membership
fee of R550. The group gives out loans of up to R100,000.