GoTyme Bank has delivered a breakout year of growth, with net customer advances more than doubling to R5.08 billion and customer deposits climbing 27% to R9.69 billion, as the bank continues to scale beyond its challenger roots.
Total income increased 25% to R2.72 billion, with net interest income growing 13% to R1.4 billion. The performance comes in a defining year that saw TymeBank become GoTyme Bank, more than four million customers move onto the new GoTyme app, and the bank strengthen its position in digital payments and customer experience.
The bank shared the update at its ‘GoTyme. GoHuman. GoForward’ media briefing in Johannesburg, framing 2026 as its “best year yet”.
According to the GoTyme Bank CEO, Cheslyn Jacobs, the results show that the bank is moving into a new phase of scale.
“What stands out is not one isolated number. It is the breadth of the momentum we are seeing across the bank. More customers are trusting us with their money, our lending business has expanded substantially, income is growing, and customers are using GoTymemore actively,” said Jacobs.
Growth that returns value to customers
GoTyme Bank now serves more than 13 million customers and completed one of its biggest operational projects of the year with the migration of more than four million customers onto its new app.
Based on its current trajectory, the bank expects to become South Africa’s third-largest bank by monthly active users by the first quarter of 2027.
“We are operating at meaningful scale, and with that comes a greater responsibility to give customers an experience that gets better as we grow,” Jacobs said.
GoTyme’s growth is also changing the economics of everyday payments for customers. The bank estimates that customers are already saving more than R150 million a year because qualifying instant payments are free.
The number of customers using PayShap has increased by more than 250% year on year, while almost 70% of payments made by GoTyme customers are now instant and free. Approximately 26% of South Africa’s PayShap cellphone payments originate from GoTyme accounts.
“We don’t want free instant payments to remain a GoTymecompetitive advantage forever. We want the industry to copy us. Instant should be the standard, and we believe free should be the standard too,” says Jacobs.
Virtual-card spend has also increased 240% year on year, including 65% growth in the most recent quarter, reflecting the accelerating shift toward digital payments.
Customer experience leap sets up a bigger 2027
The business momentum has been accompanied by a marked improvement in customer experience. In the latest Ask Afrika Orange Index, GoTyme Bank moved from sixth to second place in banking in one year.
Nolwazi Nzama, Group Executive: Operations at GoTyme Bank, said the bank’s ambition is to make digital banking simpler without making it feel distant.
“Customers should not have to choose between great technology and great service. Sometimes the best experience is solving something yourself in seconds. Sometimes you need a real person. GoHuman is about making both possible,” said Nzama.
GoTyme is on track to have 140 Customer Hubs operational across the country by year-end, complementing its digital channels with face-to-face support.
Building a deeper financial relationship
Looking to 2027, GoTyme Bank is preparing to broaden the relationship it has with customers across credit, lending, rewards and investment capabilities.
The roadmap includes a credit card, an evolution of its buy-now-pay-later product – MoreTyme, expanded personal lending through the Sanlam partnership, and a new rewards proposition designed to be simple, useful and valuable.
GoTyme is also building ways to give customers simpler access to various investment and digital assets, , subject to the relevant product, regulatory and licensing approvals.
“The strategy is not simply more products,” Jacobs said. “It is a deeper relationship with customers – across payments, saving, credit, rewards, investment and service – while keeping the experience simple and valuable.”
“Scale matters. Innovation matters. But ultimately customers need to feel the benefit,” Jacobs said. “The more digital the world becomes, the more human your bank needs to be.”
