South Africa's TymeBank to acquire SME funding fintech

South African digital bank TymeBank is to acquire Cape Town-based Retail Capital, a lending fintech that provides funding for SMEs in the country.

The deal will see Retail Capital’s funding expertise combined with TymeBank’s deposit base, allowing the companies to serve a broader audience. TymeBank’s current Business Banking offering already boasts over 100,000 customers.

In the last decade, Retail Capital has provided more than 43,000 business owners in South Africa with 5.5bn rand’s worth of working capital, making it the largest SME funder of its kind in the sector. In the last five years, it has built itself up as a fintech partner, giving businesses instant access to funding through embedded solutions.

Merger will ‘ensure business owners can fuel growth’

“This acquisition will enable TymeBank to expand its offering to entrepreneurs to include working capital finance,” says TymeBank CEO Coen Jonker. “Retail Capital has acquired significant risk management experience over the past decade and through different economic cycles. They have an experienced team in place and their risk models and operational processes have been battle-tested and optimised to a significant degree for small-business funding. Together, we look forward to providing access to innovative solutions to ensure business owners can fuel their growth, drive job creation and contribute to the broader economy.”

Retail Capital CEO Karl Westvig adds: “Retail Capital has a long history of supporting SMEs by enabling them to access affordable funding that helps their businesses grow. Now, through this acquisition by TymeBank, we will be able to scale the offering, giving SMEs the opportunity to expand through funding that works on their terms.

“Retail Capital already powers many industry-leading partners in the acquiring, retail and payments space to support their SME customers and the tie-up with TymeBank will further enhance this offering to our partners’ customers. Both Retail Capital and TymeBank have the customer front of mind, and we see the strategic move as a positive one that will greatly assist all business owners in South Africa.”