Transaction charges at TymeBank, South Africa’s leading digital challenger bank, are significantly lower than what customers of the big five traditional banks are paying. This is evidenced in the annual Solidarity Research Institute (SRI) 2022 Bank Charges Report*, which was released last week.
TymeBank’s key value proposition to consumers is its cost-effective banking solution. The Solidarity Report, in its comparison of all the major SA banks, verifies this claim. Although the report highlights TymeBank’s position mainly in the digital or online banking category, the bank’s proposition sees it competing – on products and services – with all major banks in the country.
Tauriq Keraan, CEO of TymeBank, said the bank was pleased with the report but pointed out that the breadth of the bank’s transactional offering meant it could hold its own when compared with traditional retail banks, not just other online banks.
“Our transactional offering has broadened to the extent that we can now compete head on with traditional banks. Unlike traditional banks, we do not have the costs normally associated with legacy systems, so we are able to pass this benefit onto our customers. We are a bank for all South Africans and the work done on expanding our product and features portfolio has improved our competitiveness,” says Keraan.
A recent customer study by data analytics and brand consulting company Kantar in 2021 revealed that customers joined TymeBank for the following reasons:
- No bank charges
- User-friendly banking app
- Convenience of withdrawing at Pick n Pay and Boxer stores
- Inclusive/a bank for the people
- The benefit of earning Smart Shopper points when swiping the card
- Higher interest rates on savings
While TymeBank initially attracted customers in the lower income segments, there has been noticeable growth in customers earning between R25K-R40K a month, according to the Kantar research. The bank also has one of the highest net promoter scores (NPS) of all retail banks in South Africa and an above average NPS across low- and middle-income brackets.
“Even though most TymeBank customers are multi-banked, we are becoming increasingly attractive to a wider, more affluent base because of our value proposition, which combines low costs, transparency, and ease of banking,” says Keraan.
As a digital bank in South Africa with an international arm and global investors, TymeBank benchmarks itself against other neobanks around the world, using them as a yardstick to provide value for its clients and to offer best-of-breed functionality in its operations.
“The trends for digital banks, particularly in emerging markets, point to strong demand from consumers from all walks of life as they seek a viable long-term alternative to traditional banks. We expect this to be the case in South Africa as well,” says Keraan.
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