South African fintech company Retail Capital, which provides funding to small and medium-sized businesses, has been acquired by TymeBank, South Africa’s fastest growing digital bank, which plans to use the deal to bolster its business banking offering.
Launched in 2011, Retail Capital has developed a robust risk decisioning process for small business funding products, launched a successful set of fintech solutions, and developed the underlying technology for embedded funding solutions.
The company, which is currently profitable and capital generative, has so far funded more than 43,000 business owners with over ZAR5.5 billion (US$330 million). Now, it has been acquired by TymeBank, a digital bank that has secured more than five million customers since launching in February 2019.
The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approvals, will see Retail Capital become a division of TymeBank, and the foundation of the bank’s expanded business banking offering. TymeBank believes being able to channel funding efficiently to business owners in South Africa is critical to the expansion of the historically underserved small business sector.
“This acquisition will enable TymeBank to expand its offering to entrepreneurs to include working capital finance. 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,” said TymeBank CEO Coen Jonker.
“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 said his company had 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,” he said.
“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.”
Tyme Group, through its multi-country digital banking presence, will also enable Retail Capital’s international expansion into other markets.
