Over half of SA adults choose Capitec — strong annual results show why

TimesLIVE

23-04-2025

Capitec, SA's leading digital bank, has achieved a remarkable milestone, now serving more than half of the country's adult population.
Over the past five years, the bank's journey has included the introduction of business banking, value-added services (VAS), Capitec Connect, and insurance under its own insurance licence. This diversification has effectively leveraged the group's substantial active client base, which now exceeds 24-million, with 13-million of these clients actively engaging with its app.
Capitec's ambitious purpose of making a meaningful difference in people's lives and empowering them to grow is being realised at scale, as it delivers value to individuals, businesses, and the wider economy.
We have always believed that banking should be simple, affordable, accessible, and personal. [Capitec's 2025 annual results] demonstrate that we are achieving just that
Gerrie Fourie, CEO of Capitec
For the financial year ending February 28 2025, the bank reported a 30% increase in headline earnings to R13.7bn. This was accomplished despite a challenging economic climate, highlighting the strength of Capitec's diversified business model and the impact of its integrated digital ecosystem. The bank's continued investment in data and technology allows the use of trillions of data points to create solutions that yield value and satisfy client needs.
Gerrie Fourie, CEO of Capitec, asserts that the results represent more than mere numbers — they signify progress in transforming lives. 'We have always believed that banking should be simple, affordable, accessible, and personal. [ Capitec's 2025 annual results ] demonstrate that we are achieving just that. Through our high-volume, low-margin business model, we are enabling everyone to access solutions that allow them to take control of their finances, protect their families, manage businesses, and unlock opportunities. Our purpose-driven strategy is helping us scale sustainably and, most importantly, it is assisting 24-million South Africans to grow every day.'
Diversification delivers balanced earnings growth
Fourie elaborated on Capitec's diversification strategy. 'Capitec was primarily recognised for disrupting traditional banking with its simple, affordable Global One account and accessible credit. Building on this foundation of trust and our large client base, we've embarked on a focused diversification strategy to create a comprehensive financial ecosystem.'
He emphasised that this was not just about adding products; it was about leveraging the bank's core strengths to provide unique value in areas such as credit, insurance, and accessible digital platforms and branches. This has resulted in increasingly balanced contributions to earnings. Personal banking now constitutes 45% of total earnings, insurance accounts for 25%, strategic initiatives (VAS and Capitec Connect) contribute 23%, business banking makes up 5%, and AvaFin (consolidated from May 1 2024) adds 2%.
Creating an ecosystem of value for all South Africans
Capitec's strategic focus on VAS and the Capitec Connect mobile virtual network operator has delivered exceptional results, providing significant client value and convenience. Their combined net income surged by 61% to R4.4bn.
Over 11-million clients now use the Capitec app to purchase airtime, data, electricity, vouchers, and to pay bills. The bank captures over 40% of SA's airtime and data transactions, and one in five digital vehicle licence renewals now occur on its platform, saving clients both time and money.
Capitec Connect has expanded its unique value proposition beyond the original no-expiry bundle to include highly competitive one-, seven-, and 30-day validity options, which now account for over 60% of sales. Active SIM subscribers have grown by 74% to 1.6-million, demonstrating the appeal of its simplified, affordable data offering integrated within the banking ecosystem. Data usage has surpassed 13.4 petabytes, contributing R193m in net income.
The shift to digital payments continues to accelerate. Card payments at tills and online have risen by 18% to more than 2.4-billion transactions, while cash transaction volumes have increased by only 3%. E-commerce transactions, including those via Capitec Pay, surged by 47% to 488-million. More than a million clients are now actively using their Capitec cards through digital wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay.
Capitec has also launched a new international payments solution on the app, enabling fast and affordable payments to over 50 countries in 13 currencies, for a fixed fee of R175, with funds reflecting within hours.
Meanwhile, new purpose credit solutions are helping clients fund vehicles, education, and home improvements through more than 27,000 partner locations. Credit sales to clients earning over R50,000 a month grew 56%, as the bank introduced personalised in-app offers, secured home loans, youth credit cards, and repay-as-you-earn loans for side hustlers and freelancers.
Insurance records rapid growth under new licence
Operating under its own licence, Capitec Life now manages over 3.3-million active funeral and life cover policies, insuring 15-million lives and contributing R1.9bn in net insurance income to the group.
Fourie says: 'Since May 2024, we have added in excess of 600,000 active funeral and life cover policies on our own licence. This rapid uptake highlights the unique appeal of our simplified, affordable insurance products and positions Capitec as potentially the fastest-growing life insurer in the country.'
New business bank offers simplified, transparent banking for everyone
Capitec continues to simplify financial services for entrepreneurs and SMEs, many of whom remain underserved by traditional banks. Active business clients increased to 218,207 (up 15%), forex transactions grew by 92%, and scored loan balances rose by 111% to R1.3bn.
Capitec's bold merchant commerce strategy involved selling new smart card machines outright rather than renting them, and providing the most competitive commission rates, which has helped grow the number of active trading merchants by 124% to 63,000, with a total annual turnover of R64bn. This simplified approach, along with newly reduced and transparent pricing, has saved businesses R289m in banking fees over the past year alone.
Fourie says:, 'The transactional data of these trading merchants enables us to provide an instant overdraft, or additional structured business finance within days to help the businesses grow, which in turn creates job opportunities that ultimately help the economy grow.'
Making a meaningful difference in communities through a focus on education
Capitec's broader impact also includes significant contributions to financial education and social upliftment.
Through the Capitec Foundation, more than 21,000 learners, educators, and school leaders benefitted from improved maths education programmes. Additionally, 4,000 employee volunteers partnered with nonprofits to deliver 345 initiatives that reached over 27,000 learners.
Capitec's MoneyUp Academy and WhatsApp learning bot have delivered 1.6-million lessons, further driving financial literacy across the country.
Driving this growth is Capitec's investment in technology, data, and security
Trillions of data points are used to build more innovative solutions, while new fraud prevention tools, including facial biometric verification and in-app call authentication, have raised the bar on client protection.
Igniting growth and opportunities for over 24-million South Africans
'We have laid solid foundations for long-term growth, powered by our scalable technology and diversified business model. We will continue to invest in technology and data to deepen our client knowledge and refine our offerings, ensuring each part of our ecosystem delivers distinct value,' says Fourie.
'Key future initiatives involve the continued development of our integrated ecosystem, enhancing our payment capabilities, and growing our business banking and insurance businesses. We remain passionate about making a meaningful difference and helping our clients and the South African economy grow.'