POSTBANK acting MD Shaheen Adam says the bank is well-capitalised and ready to become a full-service finance institution focusing on the unbanked.
This comes after the Reserve Bank earlier in July granted the South African Post Office (Sapo) approval to form its own lending facility, through Post Bank, which currently is only a deposit taker.
Regulatory hoops that the post office would have to address include the appointment of a board, the separation of infrastructure assets between the Post Office and Postbank and the registration of Postbank as a company.
Despite sustainability issues at Sapo, Adam said Postbank had been consistently profitable.
"We’ve got about R7.3bn in investments, R2.5bn in capital so we are well capitalised. We’ve got sufficient funding, our balance sheet is solid and we’ve also consistently generated profit," he said.
Postbank wants to use its established network throughout SA to lend to the unbanked, who reside mainly in rural parts of the country.
Adam says the bank will look at innovative models of lending, such as lending to stokvels and providing agricultural loans rather than focusing solely on consumptive loans.
"We want to create productive capacity, especially in the rural communities where there currently isn’t any access at all to lending," he said.
The aim of the bank was not to compete with commercial banks, but rather to fill a niche in the market — a gap left by the commercial banks.
"We’re in a different market so the intention isn’t to compete; it’s to fill a niche that is currently not being filled so the fact is that in the rural environment there isn’t any other game in town."
Watch the full interview here:
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