Gerrie Fourie, CEO of Capitec.

Capitec's digital transactions in South Africa continued to rise in the six months to August.

Capitec, South Africa's leading digital bank according to the 2022 SITEisfaction study, reported a 9% increase in headline earnings to R4.7 billion in its August 2023 interim financial results.

The bank claims that its client acquisition techniques gained about one million new active clients in the last six months, increasing the total number of active clients to 21.1 million.

According to Gerrie Fourie, CEO, Capitec's net transaction and commission income reflects a strong digital strategy.

Capitec says the 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.

Fourie says: “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.”

The bank says 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.

Turning to its digitalisation initiatives, the bank said, Capitec Pay – a solution that enables customers to make secure, card-free payments – has processed 52 million transactions since it was introduced in March 2023.

The bank also says the PayShap solution launched in August 2023 has already captured a 43% market share. PayShap is an instant way to make and receive payments.

Gerrie comments on PayShap: “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.”

On the bank’s virtual mobile network, Fourie said: “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.”