South Africa’s banking sector is set for its biggest shakeup in a generation as insurance groups, fintechs and retailers look to disrupt the mass market — a sector dominated by Capitec — with fintech also set for a boost as the Reserve Bank looks to bring them into the national payment system. Retail group Pepkor is looking to woo the 32-million customers who visit its vast store network on a yearly basis to bank with it — presenting the most compelling banking proposition since Capitec burst onto the scene in the early 2000s. Pepkor’s retail networkis bigger than the branch networks of Capitec, Standard Bank, Absa and Nedbank combined.
It has more than 10-million customers across its digital ecosystem, giving it more options in the digitally dominated banking sector. The Reserve Bank in 2025 approved Pepkor’s application to launch a banking presence in South Africa. Capitec, which has amassed 25-million clients, is the country’s largest digital bank, with about 12-million of its customers banking with it digitally.
Old Mutual’s banking proposition, OM Bank,is set for a big year, with the financial services group placing a lot of emphasis on growing its banking business as consumer needs evolve amid a rapid convergence of banking, insurance, and telecommunications. OM Bank had a strong soft launch, after which the fledgling snapped up about 5,000 clients a day. It heralds Old Mutual’s re-entry into the sector after its disinvestment from Nedbank in 2018 as part of the group’s managed separation.
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It is targeting clients earning R8,000-R80,000 a month but has its work cut out in seeking to dominate the mass market. Sanlam is stepping up its presence in the banking space via its partnership with TymeBank. It is building a “super app” that incorporates all the group’s capabilities and will include transactional banking facilities.
The app is being built in collaboration withGoTyme, formerly TymeBank. Various capabilities will enable users to transfer money, pay bills, buy electricity and data, and apply for credit, among other functions. Read:Value-added services: the fierce banking battlefield to retain clients It is revamping its loyalty programme by combining the different loyalty strands across the group into one offering.
This will be integrated into the app, which is scheduled to be launched in the first half of 2026. GoTyme has grown to about 12-million customers since going to market in 2019.
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