TymeBank is a digital retail bank. It aims to provide every South African with accessible and affordable banking so that they can take part in, grow and benefit from the country’s economy.
TymeBank doesn’t have any physical bank branches and relies on a banking app, an internet banking site and a partnership with two retail chains to host a national network of self-service kiosks that facilitate the account opening process.
The lender, backed by African Rainbow Capital, has attracted 80 000 customers since a soft launch in November.
The bank aims to set up kiosks at universities and small, informal shops, and offer more products from other financial service companies.
The digital bank, which was launched in February and operates via kiosks at Pick n Pay and Boxer Stores, has signed up more than 1,000,000 clients to date, Patrice Motsepe’s ARC Investments said.
The Ethos Artificial Intelligence (AI) Fund had agreed to invest R200m in TymeBank for an 8% stake, the company said.
At the same time, ARC Financial Services would invest R100m into the Ethos AI Fund, which was launched in October 2018 and has a target size of R1bn.
ARC Investments said mobile operator Rain, which it partly owns, would pilot the distribution of its SIM cards via TymeBank kiosks.
TymeBank Funding
Summary Metrics
| Founding Date | 2012 |
| TymeBank total Funding | $13.5 m |
| TymeBank latest funding size | $13.52 m |
| Time since last funding | 10 months ago |
| TymeBank investors | Ethos Private Equity, African Rainbow Capital |
TymeBank’s latest funding round in June 2019 was reported to be $13.5 m. In total, TymeBank has raised $13.5 m