TymeBank-TFG partnership opens a new front door to banking

• TymeBank-TFG partnership opens a new front door to banking
• Over 180 000 customers issued a TymeBank TFG Money account debit card 
• 600 kiosks across TFG stores now enable customers to bank and shop at the same time.

Johannesburg, 25 January 2023

The strategic partnership between TymeBank, one of the world’s fastest-growing digital banks, and leading retail giant TFG (The Foschini Group) is offering a new way of banking for South African consumers and delivering considerable benefits for customers as well as the organisations themselves. This follows the introduction of co-branded TymeBank-TFG Money financial products and services both instore and on digital platforms.

TymeBank CEO Coen Jonker commented: “TFG is renowned for its retail strength and strong customer focus, and this partnership is a unique example of two leading brands coming together to offer a truly innovative and customer-centric way of banking – a ‘new front door’ to banking. As TymeBank we’re excited about how this partnership is further expanding our reach and diversifying the current TymeBank customer profile. With the potential to expose over 30 million TFG loyalty programme (TFG Rewards) members to the TymeBank brand, we believe this partnership accelerates our mission to bring accessible, affordable banking to all South Africans.”

The partnership is delivering the following customer benefits:

• Over 600 TymeBank TFG Money branded kiosks are located in TFG stores across the country, enabling customers to have direct and convenient access to highly affordable transactional banking and highly competitive savings rates through the TymeBank TFG Money bank account. Customers can open a TymeBank TFG Money bank account at a kiosk in select TFG stores. It takes less than 5 minutes. No paperwork. No monthly fees. Customers will get a TymeBank TFG Money debit card.
• The kiosk, together with the TymeBank app and other digital interfaces, gives TFG customers access to financial services such as electricity payments, money transfer and savings products, thereby allowing customers to shop and transact at the same time. 
• With a TymeBank TFG Money bank account you get your monthly salary a day early (T&Cs apply), no monthly fees and competitively low transaction fees. Customers are also able to access the GoalSave savings product, which offers an interest rate of up to 10% p.a.
• TFG customers benefit from TymeBank’s ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ product MoreTyme™, which is interest-free with no fees over a three-month period with 3 equal instalments. 
• The TymeBank TFG Money debit card is linked to two of South Africa’s leading rewards programmes; customers benefit from TFG Rewards and Pick n Pay Smart Shopper when they shop at any one of the 20+ TFG brands, in-store or online, and double Pick n Pay Smart Shopper Points when shopping at Pick n Pay.

Scott Brown, MD of Value-Added Services at TFG said: “Establishing a long-term partnership with TymeBank and being able to offer their products and services to our customer base under the TFG Money umbrella, is perfectly aligned with our goal of driving financial inclusion. The cobranded product suite is complementary to the TFG Money Account and opens the door for new customer segments to engage with and benefit from financial services solutions enabled by TFG. There is a great fit between our brands, our goals, and the way we work, and this has allowed us to be fast-to-market with our first set of cobranded products. We’re looking forward to working alongside TymeBank to further establish TFG Money as a “go to brand” for South Africans who want to benefit from a new style of banking.”

TymeBank’s model of strong, strategic partnerships with large-scale retail ecosystems has shown impressive outcomes since launching in 2019. The bank has acquired 6.1 million customers in under four years. Indicators show customers are embracing TymeBank’s unique offering, with an average 23 million transactions per month, a 70% 30-day account activity rate, and an average acquisition of 188,000 customers per month.

“Through continued innovation we have been able to drive customer growth and engagement at an unprecedented rate in South Africa. And through partnerships such as these that leverage our respective expertise and resources, we can not only reimagine but reinvent the banking experience,” said Jonker.

TymeBank has rolled out several strategic initiatives over the few years, ensuring that we provide a holistic value proposition to our customers. Here are some the highlights: 

TymeAdvance

– The 30-day activity rate is 75%, and around 90% of TymeAdvance transactions are done by repeat users. Currently 31% of TymeAdvance users are new to the bank and 21 employer groups have already signed up for their employees to access TymeAdvance.

MoreTyme™

– MoreTyme is now the most accessible Buy Now Pay Later product in the country, with more than 5,500 physical stores and 1,200 e-commerce sites equipped to accept MoreTyme transactions.

Retail Capital

– through TymeBank’s recent acquisition of the award-winning fintech Retail Capital, the bank is now one of the leading unsecured merchant funders to SMEs in South Africa.

About TymeBank 

TymeBank is currently one of the world’s fastest-growing digital banks, with over 6 million customers since launching in February 2019. The bank is founded on simplicity, transparency and affordability and is designed to make digital banking accessible and affordable to all South Africans across the economic spectrum. Through a distribution partnership with Pick n Pay and Boxer, and more recently TFG, TymeBank has a total of 1,450 kiosks (including the 600 at TFG stores) and 15,000 retail points in retail stores across the country.

TymeBank is majority owned by Dr Patrice Motsepe’s African Rainbow Capital (‘ARC’). Other investors include Tencent, CDC Group, Apis Growth Fund II (‘Apis’), JG Summit Holdings (JG Summit), African Fig Tree (AFT), and the Ethos AI Fund.

For more information, please visit https://gotyme.co.za

About TFG 

With 34 retail brands trading worldwide in fashion, value, jewelry, accessories, sporting apparel, cellular, homeware and furniture, TFG is one of the leading retail groups in South Africa. Besides Southern Africa, TFG also has a significant presence in UK and Australia through various retail brands.

TFG first entered the UK market through the acquisition of the premium womenswear brand Phase Eight in 2015, followed by the acquisition of Whistles in 2016 and Hobbs in 2017. TFG’s presence in the Australian market was strengthened through its acquisition in July 2017 of Retail Apparel Group Pty Ltd (RAG), a leading Australian apparel retailer. In 2021 TFG introduced Bash, a new fashion and lifestyle platform and acquired Tapestry Home Brands, consisting of Coricraft, Dial-a-Bed, The Bed Store and Volpes brands to further strengthen its homeware presence locally.

TFG’s vision is to create the most remarkable omnichannel experiences for their customers. TFG employs more than 34,000 people and has over 4,400 outlets in 24 countries with almost 30 million myTFGrewards customers.

For more information, please visit www.tfglimited.co.za.

Issued by Aprio on behalf of TymeBank and TFG.