Capitec is experiencing a surge in clients who earn more than R50,000 a month joining its ranks, indicating that the lender’s appeal among different income groups is becoming entrenched.
The group on Wednesday reported a 24% increase in clients earning more than R50,000 in the six months ended August, while its overall customer base now exceeds 25-million.
Group CEO Graham Lee said the sustained growth in high-income earners was unsurprising because the lender had always intended to appeal to as many retail clients as possible.
He added that the group’s strategy to shun private banking exclusivity and treat all clients as equally important was bearing fruit.
“We have always had the vision to bank 95% of SA. What we continued to do is to create products that offer excellent value to clients,” Lee said.
“We are striving to offer the same quality of service, the same personalised experience that will be provided by a private bank but at a scale that can serve all South Africans.”
Francois Viviers, the bank’s group executive of marketing and communications, said the allure of private banking was waning, hence the influx of high-income earners to the group’s book.
“When they do banking, 95% of people’s needs are the same: they want simple and easy access to transactions that are affordable,” Viviers said.
“When we do that well we have found that the high-income segment have started to find it appealing that we offer services that are simpler and significantly cheaper than what the traditional banks charge when you’re on a private banking account.
“There is also part of the market that is starting to be disillusioned about the allure of private banking.”
Card fees slashed
In another move to woo high-income earners, Capitec on Wednesday said it had scrapped its international card payment fee, noting that physical overseas payments by clients had exceeded R1bn in the past six months.
“If you’re travelling internationally and you don’t have a Capitec card, you should get one,” Lee said.
The group’s client base earning more than R50,000 accounted for 20% of its credit sales in the six months under review.
The group’s targeted approach to granting credit and providing better and more personalised offers to lower-risk clients saw disbursements to clients earning more than R50,000 a month surge 51%.
In keeping with its mantra of broad appeal, Capitec has also introduced credit products to lure low-income earners and its youthful client base. It has launched credit cards with R600 limits to help young people build their credit records, and more than 64,000 such loans have been disbursed since the launch in February.
The group is well placed for consistent further growth thanks to its dominance of the youth segment, a client base it hopes to retain throughout their adult lives.
The Stellenbosch-based lender now has 12-million clients aged 16-35, which is a 58% share of the segment.
Record interim earnings
The group, valued at more than R410bn on the JSE, reported a 26% year-on-year increase in headline earnings to R8bn in the six months to end-August — a record for the period.
Operating profit before tax increased by 26% to R10.47bn, while return on equity rose to 31% from 29% a year ago. Total equity increased 17% to R53.8bn.
The group’s clients enjoyed a combined R203m reduction in transaction fees, merchant commission and the pricing of card machines, and shareholders will receive an interim dividend of 2,620c, which is 25.6% more than last year.
“The size of our client base has allowed us to use economies of scale to reduce our cost per transaction and increase revenue despite being a price leader in the market and investing in new initiatives and products,” the bank said.
Net interest income grew 23% driven by 40% growth in loan disbursements and a 16% increase in interest income on lending.
Business banking loan disbursements grew 42%, continuing the trend from the 2025 financial year.
AvaFin, the international online consumer lending group acquired in 2024, contributed R121m to group headline earnings.
Capitec said personal banking clients grew to 24.4-million from 22.8-million in 2024 and fully banked clients grew 11% to 9.4-million.
The volume of payments on Capitec’s digital channels continued to grow, driven by an increase in banking app clients, reaching 13.8-million from 12.3-million.
Update: October 1 2025
This story contains new information throughout.
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