Standard Bank’s Shyft taking on EasyEquities

Shyft, powered by Standard Bank, has launched share trading on the JSE, becoming a fully-fledged trading platform that enables South Africans to invest in US equities, on the European stock market, as well as in UK-listed companies. 

First launched in 2016 as a platform purely for buying and selling forex, Shyft has gradually expanded its capabilities in the past eight years. 

This was initially aimed at helping South Africans purchase forex digitally and spend their money globally, either through a physical card or virtually. 

Standard Bank launched the offering to help its clients easily purchase forex cross-border payment solutions to manage their international currencies. 

However, the bank did not want to contain the offering just to its clients, enabling South Africans from any bank to use the standalone app. 

Shyft first launched this offering South Africans the ability to purchase US dollars, Euros, British Pounds, and Australian dollars. 

The platform is now available to all Standard Bank and non-Standard Bank clients who reside in South Africa or Botswana and offers physical and digital cards.

Gradually, the offering expanded beyond forex to enable South Africans to invest in global equities, beginning with the US. 

Considering that the JSE makes up only 1% of the global equities market, Standard Bank wanted to offer clients the ability to invest in sectors not available on the local equity market. 

With Shyft, you don’t need to go through an equities dealer or a fund manager to get your hands on shares in companies like Amazon, Apple, Google, or US-listed exchange-traded funds (ETFs). 

Over the past few years, it has gradually expanded the investing universe to include European equities, UK-listed companies, and is set to offer access to the Australian equity market soon. 

Until now, the investment proposition has provided clients with instant access to over 1,000 top global stocks and ETFs on the New York, London, and Frankfurt stock exchanges. 

On 27 March, Shyft announced that it would give its clients access to investing on the JSE as well, enabling clients to invest in local companies and ETFs. 

With the addition of local stocks, investors can now enjoy a diversified portfolio in one place, all while having the same user experience.

Standard Bank has traditionally offered share trading through its SBG Securities platform and low-cost alternatives on its banking app. 

“We are proud to be able to offer people the opportunity to buy and invest in proudly South African companies,” the Head of Shyft at Standard Bank, Glynn Allen, said. 

“Shyft is built on making transacting easy for consumers and we are immensely proud to be partnering with the biggest exchange on the continent to offer clients and prospective clients a unique diversification opportunity.”

“This partnership enables more people to trade on the open market, which benefits both the country and the continent, and we look forward to building on it to provide solutions that help people get value for their money,” Allen said. 

EasyEquities has historically dominated the retail investing segment but has faced increasing competition in recent years.

Another major bank, Investec, has launched Clarity by Investec, offering low-cost share trading to compete directly with EasyEquities.

Traditional banks have an edge over EasyEquities in this regard, considering their significant distribution channels and ability to use the excess cash on the platform for traditional banking activities.

Their scale should also enable them to offer lower trading fees, with them already having significant share-trading operations.

Allen explained that Shyft will not charge any administration fees and only levy a safe custody fee of 0.12% for holding investors’ money on the app.

To celebrate the launch, Allen said that trading on the JSE will be free for the month of April.

Looking forward, Shyft is looking to roll out its offering across the continent in the 22 markets in which Standard Bank currently operates. However, Allen said the expansion will not be rapid due to the complex regulatory environment.

The bank has applied for a licence to operate Shyft in a further two to four African countries.

The app already offers a Botswana Pula wallet to people in that country and will be adding a rand wallet to its Botswana offering soon.

The first step on this expansion journey will be the launch of fractional shares on the app for existing users to increase accessibility.