TymeBank / Tyme Group
$1.5Bdigital bank
2024 Pre-IPO round (Nu Holdings-led, US$150M)
Tyme Group crossed unicorn valuation in 2024 pre-IPO funding; Philippines and Vietnam operations contribute meaningfully to group.
TymeBank / Tyme Group
Sub-Saharan Africa · GDP rank #32
South Africa
ZA · ZAR @ 0.0607/USD
South Africa is Sub-Saharan Africa's most bank-anchored payments market — five banks (Standard, Absa, FirstRand/FNB, Nedbank, Capitec) control >90% of retail accounts and a mature card-acceptance stack coexists with an unusually durable cash economy. SARB's PayShap instant rail, live since March 2023, is the first genuine challenge to card dominance since the 1990s; SARB's 50% acquisition of BankservAfrica (rebranded PayInc) and the Payments Ecosystem Modernisation Programme are restructuring the rulebook in public. Capitec overtook Standard Bank by retail customer count in October 2025.
Tab 07
Fintech & disruption
Disruption intensity, unicorns, notable domestic players, cross-border entrants, and venture funding depth — the structural state of the disruption stack for this market.
Tyme Group's pre-IPO round accounted for ~30% of total; dealflow otherwise concentrated in fintech + climate.
VC deals · 2024
$510.0M
total disclosed
Largest unicorn
$1.5B
TymeBank / Tyme Group
Unicorns
Notable players
Established players outside unicorn status — acquisitions, specialist networks, or regulated operators that shape the market.
Yoco
SMB card acceptance (mPOS)Yoco
Stitch
payments infrastructure (open banking + acquiring)Stitch
Peach Payments
PSPPeach Payments
Lesaka Technologies
fintech platform (NASDAQ-listed)Lesaka Technologies
JUMO
pan-African SME lending infrastructureJUMO
Cross-border entrants
Foreign-licensed operators that have achieved scale locally via passporting, branch, or subsidiary.
Revolut
soft-launched ZAR support 2024; no local entity yet
Revolut
Stripe
full Stripe ZA launched August 2024 — local acquiring for ZAR cards
Stripe
Wise
ZAR payouts supported; no local entity
Wise