Billionaire Patrice Motsepe’s bank shooting the lights out after major name change

Patrice Motsepe-owned GoTyme Bank has revealed its strongest financial performance yet, with income increasing 25% to R2.72 billion.

This comes on the back of strong net interest income growth of 13% to R1.4 billion, which was supported by surging customer deposits. 

The bank revealed this financial data at its GoTyme. GoHuman. GoForward. media bridging on 29 October to outline its product pipeline for 2027. 

This product pipeline comes after TymeBank rebranded as GoTyme Bank, with it unveiling a new banking app that four million customers have switched to. 

Billionaire Patrice Motsepe’s African Rainbow Capital is the majority shareholder and controlling force behind GoTyme Bank.

Customer advances doubled to R5.08 billion, and deposits surged by 27% to R9.69 billion as the bank aggressively grows its loan book. 

This mirrors a strategy followed by many digital banks worldwide, which focus on non-interest revenue rather than traditional banking activities to drive revenue and income.

Non-interest revenue is extremely valuable for banks as it consumes significantly less capital than lending and is less sensitive to interest rates. 

This revenue is generated through fees and commissions on transactions, forex conversions, and the use of banking infrastructure such as ATMs. 

GoTyme Bank CEO Cheslyn Jacobs said the bank’s financial performance shows it is moving into a new phase of scale. 

“What stands out is not one isolated number. It is the breadth of the momentum we are seeing across the bank,” Jacobs said. 

“More customers are trusting us with their money. Our lending business has expanded substantially. Income is growing and so is client activity.”

GoTyme Bank has 13 million customers and has migrated four million of those onto its new banking app. 

On its current trajectory, the bank is set ot become South Africa’s third-largest bank by monthly active users by the first quarter of 2027. 

“We are operating at a meaningful scale and with that comes greater responsibility to give customers an experience that gets better as we grow,” Jacobs said. 

GoTyme’s growth is also changing the economics of everyday payments for customers. The bank estimates that customers are already saving more than R150 million a year because qualifying instant payments are free. 

The number of customers using PayShap has increased by more than 250% year-on-year, while almost 70% of payments made by GoTyme customers are now instant and free. 

It said that approximately 26% of South Africa’s PayShap cellphone payments originate from GoTyme accounts.

In 2027, the bank plans to launch a credit card and enhance its buy-now-pay-later product. 

It will also be launching its partnership with Sanlam, which it said will significantly increase personal lending. GoTyme will also launch a new rewards programme. 

“It is a deeper relationship with customers, across payments, savings, credit, rewards, investment and service, while keeping the experience simple and valuable,” Jacobs said.