Financier TymeBank Experiences Steep Growth in Deposits, Enlarges Lending Offerings After Achieving Unicorn Standing
TymeBank Expands Lending Portfolio and Strengthens Position in South African Banking Sector
In a significant move, TymeBank, South Africa's first fully digital bank, has announced plans to expand its lending portfolio. This expansion is set to be facilitated by leveraging the bank's existing infrastructure and customer base for new lending products.
The bank's growth and strategic investments reflect a positive outlook, with TymeBank currently being one of the world's fastest-growing digital banks and notably the first digital bank in Africa to reach profitability. Its business model, which emphasizes no monthly banking fees and significantly lower transaction costs, has positioned it well to continue expanding revenue streams, particularly through SME funding where it is the largest merchant cash advance provider in the sector.
TymeBank's latest growth and strategic updates include a significant new joint venture with Sanlam, a leading financial services company. Approved in early August 2025, this 50:50 partnership creates Sanlam-Tyme JVCo, combining TymeBank's digital banking infrastructure and large customer base (over 11 million accounts) with Sanlam's personal lending operations and insurance capabilities. This alliance aims to transform the retail credit market by providing accessible personal loans, integrated insurance, and additional financial products to South Africa's underbanked population, potentially sparking a fintech revolution similar to Kenya's KCB M-PESA model.
Despite the promising growth, TymeBank faces a mixed outlook for SMEs in South Africa due to economic factors such as rising costs, anticipated interest rate decisions by the South African Reserve Bank, and the impact of US tariffs. The bank is hopeful for improved SME funding access via partnerships among government, financial institutions, and fintechs, which could drive growth. However, SMEs remain vulnerable to broader macroeconomic challenges.
In terms of ownership, ARC, TymeBank's majority shareholder, holds a 57.7 percent stake in the bank. During the capital raise, ARC proportionally increased its shareholding in TymeBank. It is worth noting that ARC did not make a further conservative adjustment to TymeBank's valuation in the mentioned context. However, in a previous adjustment, ARC made a "conservative adjustment" of TymeBank's valuation downward by R324 million to reflect the pricing of the Series D round.
TymeBank's strategic initiatives include advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence, which it is investing in heavily. The bank is also introducing new secured lending products, such as vehicle finance. TymeBank's deposits have risen to nearly R7bn, and the bank had reached 10.7m customers by the end of December 2024.
Notably, Tyme Group, TymeBank’s parent company, was recognized by TIME Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential Companies of 2025, highlighting its rising prominence and influence in the financial services sector.
Summary:
| Aspect | Updates as of August 2025 | |-----------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Growth | Over 11 million customers; fastest-growing digital bank in Africa; first African digital bank profitable. | | Revenue Potential | Enhanced through large SME funding portfolio, no fees, low transaction costs; new credit and insurance JV with Sanlam. | | Strategic Partnerships| New 50:50 joint venture with Sanlam (Sanlam-Tyme JVCo) to expand credit, lending, and insurance services. | | Market Challenges | Navigating US tariffs impact, local economic conditions, and SME vulnerabilities amid rising costs and global shifts. | | Ownership | ARC, TymeBank's majority shareholder, holds a 57.7 percent stake in the bank. | | New Products | Introducing new secured lending products, such as vehicle finance. | | Deposits | TymeBank's deposits have risen to nearly R7bn ($385m). | | Customers | TymeBank had reached 10.7m customers by the end of December 2024. | | Valuation | TymeBank's valuation was increased to $1.5bn after a successful $250m Series D funding round in December 2024. | | Reporting Structure | The reporting structure for TymeBank and Tyme Global remains separated after the Series D funding round. | | No Additional Info | No new information about Tyme Group's net fair value gain during the reporting period was provided. |
- TymeBank's expansion in lending products is facilitated by both its existing infrastructure and customer base, as well as strategic investments in technology to optimize operations.
- The joint venture between TymeBank and Sanlam, named Sanlam-Tyme JVCo, will leverage Sanlam's personal lending operations and insurance capabilities with TymeBank's digital banking infrastructure to provide accessible personal loans, insurance, and additional financial products, potentially revolutionizing the retail credit market.
- In pursuit of long-term growth, TymeBank is making significant investments in advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence, and will be introducing new secured lending products such as vehicle finance to attract a wider array of investors, including institutional investors like venture capitalists interested in the finance and technology sectors.
