Digital banks TymeBank, Discovery Financial institution and Financial institution Zero may quickly see a brand new competitor within the South African market: London-headquartered Revolut, the world’s fourth-largest digital financial institution, is eyeing a neighborhood launch, TechCentral has learnt.
In contrast to South Africa’s digital banking upstarts, which have centered virtually completely on the private banking phase, Revolut’s providing features a wider vary of providers together with multi-currency accounts, fee-free forex change, inventory and commodity buying and selling, and even cryptocurrency buying and selling.
Revolut’s entry into the South African market, if it occurs, may due to this fact result in an enormous shift within the broader banking sector and maybe even threaten the market shares of bigger conventional banks.
“Revolut continues to discover alternatives for development in new markets as a part of our mission to deliver the Revolut app to clients around the globe. South Africa is a market we’re evaluating, and one we see as enticing, with the potential to supply a novel worth proposition to clients sooner or later. Nonetheless, we’re fairly early within the course of,” Revolut advised TechCentral.
Based in 2015 by Nikolay Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko, Revolut began out by providing a pay as you go card with low-fee overseas change providers. It has since advanced to a full-fledged monetary “tremendous app”.
Its enterprise banking providing gives multi-currency accounts with company playing cards and expense administration instruments. It additionally presents insurance coverage and life-style providers together with journey insurance coverage, machine insurance coverage and perks like airport lounge entry. However its product providing isn’t the identical within the greater than 160 international locations and areas wherein it operates, and it’s not recognized which of those will probably be supplied in South Africa if a launch goes forward.
50 million purchasers
Revolut has 50 million clients globally, with 10 million within the UK alone. The corporate is valued at US$45-billion (as of August 2024). Though customers in Africa can obtain the Revolut app and acquire entry to a restricted subset of its providers, the corporate doesn’t have a banking licence in any African nation. A South Africa launch may function a launchpad for the remainder of the continent.
Revolut’s battle for market share in South Africa won’t be simple. Identical to Revolut, South Africa’s first totally digital financial institution, TymeBank, additionally has unicorn standing, with a December 2024 valuation pricing the corporate at $1.5-billion. In its final funding spherical, TymeBank secured a $150-million funding from certainly one of Revolut’s international rivals, Nubank – the world’s largest standalone financial institution. Based on Coenraad Jonker, CEO and co-founder of Tyme, the funding by Nubank – whose core markets are Brazil, Mexico and Colombia – is the corporate’s manner of not directly getting into the African and Southeast Asian markets by way of TymeBank.
“They (Nubank) would not have plans to develop organically into Southeast Asia,” mentioned Jonker, and its funding “is basically the wager that they’re taking as Nubank in Southeast Asia and Africa”.
Whereas TymeBank’s focus leans in the direction of the low finish of the market, Discovery spin-off Discovery Financial institution has made significant headway within the center and higher segments of the digital banking market – an area that Revolut dominates in most of the international locations the place it has a presence. When it comes to product providing, Discovery Financial institution has a collection that matches Revolut’s on a variety of providers together with multi-currency accounts, bank cards and advantages like airport lounge entry.
Learn: TymeBank guardian valued at $1.5-billion in newest fundraise
Launched in 2019, Discovery surpassed the a million buyer mark in September 2024. TymeBank has greater than 10 million clients.
“Revolut has aggressive plans to proceed to develop its buyer base to the 100 million milestone, whereas additionally rolling out new and revolutionary providers to change into the first financial institution of selection for its clients,” the financial institution mentioned in an announcement final August. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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