The US and UK rank as top destinations visited by Capitec clients, who are also increasingly travelling to neighbouring countries, with the lender’s clients having spent R1bn outside the borders of SA in six months.
This as the bank rapidly attracts high income earners to its ranks, becoming a bastion of egalitarian banking in SA.
The Stellenbosch-based lender, which has about 25-million clients in the country, on Tuesday released data on the foreign spending of its clients.
The data shows that between March and August, the bank’s clients made nearly 2-million international card payments, a 24% increase year on year, translating to spending of about R1bn in the period.
Apart from travelling to the US and UK, where SA citizens have strong family ties, Capitec clients, mostly in the age group 35-44 years, were also setting sail to countries such as Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini, Namibia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
These are also countries with a strong population presence in SA.
“Most international card activity comes from clients who are at the point in their lives where they can enjoy either group vacations or the high-value trips they’ve been saving up for,” said Francois Viviers, group executive: marketing and communications.
“Currency conversion rates and transaction fees have a massive impact on how people experience their travel abroad.”
Capitec has responded to the increased travel by its clientele by cutting fees on international card payments, in a move set to make the group even more appealing to high earners who are frequent travellers.
High earners flock to Capitec
Business Day reported last month that 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 reported a 24% increase in clients earning more than R50,000 in the six months ended August.
Group CEO Graham Lee told Business Day at the time that 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.”
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