Sanlam is building a “super” app that incorporates all the group’s capabilities and will include transactional banking, as it enters the banking scene through its deepening relationship with TymeBank.
The app is being built in collaboration with TymeBank, soon to be renamed GOtyme in SA. The mooted app will have saving capabilities, with users being able to transfer money, pay bills, buy electricity and data and apply for credit, among other functions.
Sanlam is set to revamp its loyalty programme, pulling the different loyalty strands across the group into one offering, which will also be integrated into the app, expected to be launched in the first half of next year.
To solidify the “evergreen” relationship between the two companies, which count Patrice Motsepe’s investment vehicles (Ubuntu-Botho and African Rainbow Capital Investments) as key investors, TymeBank will change its brand colours to resemble those of Sanlam, with a co-branded card.
Anton Gildenhuys, CEO of Sanlam Life and Savings, said the priority for the group to grow its already leading market position in SA was to expand the solutions it provided to clients and build its relevance among younger and mobile-first consumers.
“If you look at our primary product lines — risk and savings, investment and pre- and postretirement — those are not the typical products that a young consumer would seek first. They want credit and transactional facilities,” Gildenhuys said.
“We are very proud to announce a really important and strategic relationship with Tyme to embed them into our ecosystem subject to regulatory approval.”
Karl Westvig, CEO of TymeBank, said Sanlam and the lender are working on four key pillars, with the first being the lending business via a 50:50 joint venture announced earlier this year.
“On the transactional banking side, what you’re actually going to end up getting is rewriting the whole tech stack. The current platform that you see is going to be replaced. We are already in the friends and family testing phase,” Westvig said.
“In January, there will be a new app. This partnership is built on probably the newest tech stack in the world. It’s completely cloud native. The third element is insurance. Sanlam will be the exclusive provider to TymeBank’s customers. The fourth part is the loyalty programme.
“Sanlam customers can expect to get effectively a free bank account. They are not going to pay monthly fees and will have access to the lowest transaction fees in the market. Between our entities, we have 17-million customers, a large captive audience and incredible data.”
TymeBank is set to launch credit cards next year.
The Competition Tribunal in August unconditionally approved the merger between TymeBank and Sanlam’s personal loans business.
Sanlam rival Old Mutual is set to launch its banking offering, OM Bank, before year-end — marking the financial services group’s re-entry into the banking sector after its disinvestment from Nedbank in 2018.
OM Bank will not roll out ATMs countrywide but will be entering into partnerships with retail outfits to make its services available to consumers.
Khumalok@businesslive.co.za
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.