The kiosks have been installed in stores including Markham, Foschini, Totalsports and Sportscene, with as many as 250,000 TFG TymeBank customers already signed up.

“We are on target to sign up 1 million TFG-TymeBank customers by December this year,” says Jonker. 

One of the fastest-growing banks in the world, TymeBank has secured more than 6 million customers since start-up in 2019, and is taking on more than 180,000 new customers a month.

“If you include our kiosks at Pick n Pay and Boxer stores, our network is up to 1,450 kiosks where you can open a bank account. Functionality at the kiosks is similar to the service you would receive at a rival bank branch. 

“You can change your phone number, replace your bank card, check bank balances and, over time, we plan to introduce more functionality,” Jonker says.

Visit Daily Maverick’s home page for more news, analysis and investigations

“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,” he adds. 

The TymeBank-TFG partnership is also currently running a personal loan pilot project, offering select TFG customers short-term personal loans with durations of three, six and 12 months.

Scott Brown, managing director of value-added services at TFG, says the long-term partnership with TymeBank, and the ability to offer their products and services under the TFG Money umbrella, is perfectly aligned with the retailer’s goal of driving financial inclusion. 

“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 co-branded 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,” Brown says.

On the business banking side, TymeBank has seen customer numbers grow from 108,000 last August to 135,000 today. The bank also lends  money to about 40,000 business customers through its merchant advance product. BM/DM