TymeBank finalizes it First Acquisition in South Africa with Retail Capital Deal

TymeBank began as TYME in South Africa in 2012, a fintech business that specialized in domestic digital remittance services. In 2017, TymeBank received the country’s first commercial banking license since 1999.  South Africa’s fastest growing digital bank has now bolstered its business banking offering with the acquisition of Retail Capital, an award-winning fintech company that provides funding to small and medium-sized businesses in South Africa. The acquisition will see Retail Capital become a division of TymeBank and the foundation of the bank’s expanded business banking offering.

Over the years, TymeBank has implemented different initiatives to provide innovative financial services to South Africans. It is also the first bank in South Africa to operate fully off a secure cloud-based infrastructure network. While the open-service architecture of TymeBank’s current tech stack enables the bank to interact with third parties at a quick pace and with little additional expense, the bank uses its cloud-based technology to pass cost savings onto the consumer and improve the customer experience.

TymeBank is completely regulated and held to the same standards of safety and security as all other banks in South Africa, despite the fact that it might not look or operate like a typical bank.

By collaborating with reputable merchants including Pick n Pay and Boxer, TymeBank has been able to take advantage of the accessibility of retail points to enable consumers to open accounts and get actual debit cards in less than five minutes without any paperwork.

TymeBank’s most recent acquisition of Retail Capital is the firm’s first acquisition in South Africa. The deal was worth over $87m (R1.5 Billion). TymeBank’s CEO Coen Jonker speaking on the deal acknowledged that it is the beginning of a new era for TymeBank as it aims to branch into funding small businesses in South Africa.

“We are excited to welcome Westvig and the Retail Capital team into the TymeBank family. TymeBank business banking is strengthened by a quality acquisition and a high calibre team and we look forward to making business banking and access to capital more affordable for South Africa’s small business owners and entrepreneurs.”

Before the end of December 2022, Retail Capital will merge with TymeBank as part of the acquisition. Karl Westvig, the chief executive of Retail Capital, will be a member of the executive committee of the Tyme group and in charge of managing TymeBank’s business banking and lending services.