London-based Revolut, the world’s fourth-largest digital bank, is considering entering the South African market, potentially challenging local digital banks such as TymeBank, Discovery Bank, and Bank Zero.
Unlike South Africa’s existing digital banks, which primarily focus on personal banking, TechCentral reports that Revolut offers a broader range of services.
These include multi-currency accounts, fee-free currency exchange, stock and commodity trading, and even cryptocurrency trading.
If Revolut proceeds with its South African expansion, it could shake up the local banking sector and threaten the market share of traditional banks.
“Revolut continues to explore opportunities for growth in new markets as part of our mission to bring the Revolut app to customers around the world. South Africa is a market we are evaluating, and one we see as attractive, with the potential to offer a unique value proposition to customers in the future. However, we are quite early in the process,”
the bank told TechCentral.
Founded in 2015 by Nikolay Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko, Revolut initially offered a prepaid card with low-fee foreign exchange services.
It has since grown into a full-fledged financial “super app”. The company’s business banking services include multi-currency accounts, corporate cards, and expense management tools, along with insurance and lifestyle services such as travel and device insurance, plus airport lounge access.
However, Revolut does not offer the same product suite across all 160+ countries and regions where it operates, making it unclear what services it would introduce in South Africa.
With a global customer base of 50 million – including 10 million in the UK – Revolut was valued at US$45 billion as of August 2024.
While users in Africa can download the Revolut app and access limited services, the company does not hold a banking licence in any African nation.
A South African launch could serve as a strategic entry point for further expansion across the continent.
Competing for market share in South Africa will be no easy feat.
TymeBank, the country’s first fully digital bank, also holds unicorn status, with a valuation of US$1.5 billion as of December 2024.
It recently secured a US$150 million investment from Nubank – one of Revolut’s key global competitors and the world’s largest standalone digital bank.
According to TymeBank CEO and co-founder Coenraad Jonker, Nubank’s investment represents its indirect entry into the African and Southeast Asian markets.
While TymeBank primarily serves the lower-income segment, Discovery Bank, a spin-off of the insurance giant Discovery, has gained traction among middle- and upper-income customers.
This is the market segment where Revolut dominates in many of the countries where it operates. Discovery Bank, which launched in 2019, reached one million customers by September 2024.
TymeBank, by comparison, has over 10 million customers. Revolut remains ambitious about global growth.
Featured image credit: edited from freepik
