The secret behind billionaire Patrice Motsepe’s banking giant

GoTyme Bank has marked its 10-year partnership with payment solutions provider BPC, which the bank credits with helping it grow from zero to 12 million customers in less than 7 years.

GoTyme Bank, formerly known as TymeBank, is owned by African Rainbow Capital, an investment holding company founded by billionaire Patrice Motsepe, who also serves as the company’s non-executive chairman.

The bank forms part of the Tyme Group, which was founded in 2019 by Coenraad Jonker and Tjaart van der Walt, backed by institutional shareholders, including Motsepe.

The bank has experienced a meteoric rise since its launch in 2019, growing from 50,000 customers within two months to surpassing 1 million in its first year.

It boasted 3.5 million customers by year two, over 6 million by year three, and now serves more than 12 million people.

On 19 March 2026, GoTyme celebrated its decade-long partnership with BPC, saying the company has supported its rise over the past seven years.

“Choosing BPC at the start of this long journey was the right decision,” said GoTyme CTO Bruce Paveley.

“BPC’s SmartVista platform and expert support from their team helped us launch fast, giving us the tools to issue debit cards instantly and to keep innovating.” 

“Together, we’ll continue delivering new, innovative payment tools and payment experiences for South Africans. Be it online, in-app, or at kiosks across the country.”

Paveley explained that, from day one, GoTyme sought a partner that could build a bank from the ground up and meet all South African regulatory and scheme requirements.

This is where BPC came in. Covering banking, payments and commerce (thus the name, BPC), the company serves 500 customers in over 140 countries.

Its customers include central and commercial banks, transport operators, issuers, acquirers, and governments.

BPC’s SmartVista platform allowed these customers to turn payments and data assets into full end-to-end transactions.

“We ensure people pay, get paid, lend, loan, plan, buy, transit, travel, claim a pension and more. We enable people to transact through life by bridging real life to digital,” the company explains on its website.

Helping GoTyme go from strength to strength

GoTyme employs a ‘phygital’ model, which combines digital with in-person service at kiosks located at retail partner outlets across South Africa. 

One of the bank’s key selling points is its digital onboarding, which takes less than 5 minutes, designed to make it simple for South Africans to open an account without paperwork and walk away with a working debit card in one visit.

Paveley explained that BPC helped GoTyme make this model a success by delivering SmartVista issuing, tightly integrated with the bank’s kiosks and digital channels.

“Beyond technology, BPC’s supported with certification with international schemes, card manufacturing, transaction flow design and end-to-end operational readiness,” he said. 

This also accelerated the bank’s time-to-market, as leveraging the company’s SmartVista platform’s modularity and open APIs enabled rapid feature rollout and lower operational costs.

These factors also enabled GoTyme to become the first profitable digital bank in Africa, achieving this milestone in under five years.

“GoTyme Bank’s rise shows what happens when modern, scalable technology meets a clear mission,” said BPC Sub-Saharan Africa managing director Craig Albertson. 

“For ten years, SmartVista has powered GoTyme Bank’s operations at scale. We’re proud of this partnership and what the bank has managed to achieve relying on our technology.” 

“We are here and ready to support the next chapter as GoTyme Bank continues to set the pace for customer-centric banking in South Africa and beyond.”