Capitec Bank announced today that Capitec its revenue from send cash payments and voucher sales surged 56% to reach R1.1 billion in the six months to end-August 2023.
“The leading digital bank’s latest results reveal that the number of clients embracing digital transactions has grown 8% to 11.7 million, while the number of app users climbed to 10.2 million, making Capitec the biggest digital bank in South Africa,” , says Gerrie Fourie, Chief Executive Officer at Capitec.
“This surge has propelled digital transaction volumes by 21% to 957 million, with the banking app claiming 83% of these transactions. Income from Send Cash payments and voucher sales soared 56% to R1.1 billion.”
Particularly remarkable was the 78% climb in Send Cash income, which reached R265 million, and the substantial contribution from bill payments, vouchers, and national lottery ticket purchases, summing up to R274 million.
Capitec says its Live Better programme has rewarded clients’ card payment transactions, which grew 28% to 1.1 billion, with R186 million in cash back.
This initiative, which has seen 16.9 million clients register, forms part of the bank’s long-term strategy to steer clients away from traditional cash transactions, resulting in cash transaction volume increasing by only 3% to 286 million compared to digital transaction growth of 28% to over 1 billion for the period under review.
Digitalisation and diversification
“Considering the convenience of digital payments, Capitec’s portfolio now includes Samsung Pay, Google Pay, Apple Pay, Garmin Pay digital wallets, Capitec Pay, and the recently launched PayShap,” says Fourie.
Capitec Pay is an innovation that makes online payments simpler and safer for clients and retailers and has processed 52 million transactions since it was introduced in March 2023.
The PayShap solution launched in August 2023 has already capturing a 43% market share.
Initially designed for clients to send cash and buy essentials like airtime and electricity, Capitec’s Value-Added Services (VAS) offerings now encompass bill payments, vouchers, and national lottery ticket purchases.
VAS now constitutes 16% of Capitec’s net transaction and commission income, generating R394 million. Fourie adds, “Capitec Connect has issued over 1.3 million SIM cards.
“We’ve also registered 248 224 credit life policies on our own licence and have 2.4 million active funeral plan policies.”
