The digital bank GoTyme has called on other banks in the industry to make instant payments free. The bank announced on Thursday that GoTyme customers now generate about 26% of all payments through the PayShap service in South Africa.
PayShap, managed by PayInc (formerly BankservAfrica), allows users to instantly transfer funds between banks. Payments can be addressed to a mobile phone number registered as a ShapID, which eliminates the need for the sender to provide the recipient's full account number. According to PayInc, the system processed one billion cumulative transactions in June and handles over 60 million operations monthly.
GoTyme, which changed its name from TymeBank this year, noted that the number of its customers using PayShap has increased by more than 250% compared to last year. The bank stated that nearly 70% of payments made by its customers are instant and free. GoTyme estimates that due to the absence of fees for these instant payments, customers save over 150 million rand per year.
CEO Cheslyn Jacobs stated: 'We do not want free instant payments to remain a perpetual competitive advantage for GoTyme. We want the industry to copy us. Instant payments should become the standard, and we believe that free should also become the standard.'
This data was presented by the bank at a press briefing in Johannesburg. Fees for PayShap, launched in March 2023, had long been a source of dissatisfaction. Earlier this year, PayInc acknowledged that high costs and inconsistent user experience in banking applications were slowing down the system's adoption.
In a column for TechCentral in March, Jacobs argued that large banks face a conflict of interest because promoting a low-cost payment channel reduces their own fee income. He explained the high usage rate of the service by stating that the GoTyme app automatically routes payments through PayShap as the cheapest option.
Development plans until 2027
GoTyme reported that spending on its virtual cards has grown by 240% year-on-year, including a 65% increase in the last quarter. Furthermore, this year the bank migrated over four million customers to its new application.
The bank currently has over 13 million customers and plans to become the third-largest bank in South Africa by monthly active users by the first quarter of 2027. The bank did not disclose what data was used to rank banks by active users. Total revenue grew by 25%, reaching 2.72 billion rand, and customer deposits grew by 27%, amounting to 9.69 billion rand.
GoTyme's plans for 2027 include introducing a credit card, expanding personal lending through a partnership with Sanlam, and launching a new rewards program. The bank is also working on providing customers with access to investments and digital assets, subject to obtaining the necessary licenses and regulatory approvals.