Capitec, SA’s largest digital bank, has announced its interim financial months delivering another six months of strong growth with headline earnings rising 26% to R8bn in the period from March 2025 to August 2025.
Graham Lee, Group CEO of Capitec, says the group’s performance is achieved through its focus on its clients and delivering innovative solutions that remain relevant in their lives.
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“Our goal has been to build trust and make a meaningful impact for our clients. The scale of our 25-million client base puts us in a strong position to lower the cost per transaction, increase revenue and continue to invest in new initiatives and products that meet our clients’ daily needs.”
Interim results highlights
- Headline earnings increased by 26% to R8bn (August 2024: R6.4 bn).
- Net interest income after credit impairments increased by 27% to R7.1bn — driven by new credit initiatives and prudent management.
- Non-interest income, including Value-Added Services (VAS), Capitec Connect and Insurance, grew by 19% to R13.4bn (August 2024: R11.3bn).
- The Fintech business including VAS and Capitec Connect grew by 40% to R2.9bn (August 2024: R2bn).
- Return on shareholders’ equity improved to 31% (August 2024: 29%).
Winning clients across segments
Capitec Group’s total client base grew by 8%, with the Personal Bank now serving over half of SA’s adult population. Fully banked clients increased by 11% to 9.4-million. Clients aged between 16 and 35 grew to 12-million, giving Capitec a commanding 58% market share among the youth segment, and clients with salaries above R50,000 per month have increased by 24%, reflecting Capitec’s growing relevance among higher-income earners.
Diversified ecosystem powering growth
The group continues to deliver impressive returns by diversifying beyond Personal Banking.
Capitec’s Insurance business contributed 26% to the group’s earnings and includes Credit Life Insurance, Life Cover, and Funeral Plans, which now cover 15.8-million lives — up 16% year-on-year.
The Fintech segment, comprising VAS and Capitec Connect, contributed 26% to group earnings and experienced rapid growth across all product lines, with 1.1-million active Capitec Connect SIMs and 12-million clients purchasing VAS via the Capitec app last month.
AvaFin, the group’s international lending arm operating in Poland, Latvia, Czechia, Spain, and Mexico, contributed R124m to group headline earnings for the period from May 1 2024 to August 31 2024, with a 27% increase in active clients.
Capitec Business contributed 5% to group earnings, up from 2% last year, and now services 182,000 businesses, expanding its client base by 57%. The number of trading merchants using Capitec card machines increased by 165%, reaching 85,000. This demonstrates a strong vote of confidence from South African SMEs, who are increasingly attracted to Capitec’s straightforward and value-driven approach.
New solutions solve real client needs
In the past six months, Capitec continued to innovate around client needs, introducing new solutions that are simpler, easier to access and significantly more affordable — unlocking more value for its 25-million clients.
Cross-border money transfers, in partnership with Mama Money, now enable easy payments to eight African countries through the Capitec app, with transferred money reflecting in minutes.
The youth-focused Credit Card enables younger clients with no credit history to build their credit profile over time in a responsible way, with limits from R600 repayable in three monthly instalments.
The dynamic repay-as-you-earn loan was introduced to enable multiple income earners and SMEs to qualify for credit based on non-salary income and repay their loans with smaller, flexible repayments.
Capitec will also launch an improved secured home loan product with SA Home Loans, offering zero limits, competitive interest rates, and up to 50% off bond attorney fees.
Capitec Connect also introduced new devices, allowing clients to order any of 22 smartphones from their app to be delivered within three days and receive 30GB free data over the first six months. This is a key part of Capitec’s strategy to entrench itself as an enabler that is relevant in people’s daily lives.
Disrupting existing revenue to lead the market with better client value
Capitec continues to lead on affordability, giving back R203m to clients through fee simplification. From March 1 2025, it reduced and simplified transaction prices for Personal and Business Banking with its R1, R2, R3, R6 and R10 fee structure.
Personal Banking clients saved R106m from lower fees, while Business Banking clients saved R97m. Clients were also encouraged to move from SMS notifications, which have a fee, to free in-app notifications, saving them R52m. Reduced merchant commission rates and discounted card machines saved clients R95m. Over the same period, the group rewarded 449 terabytes of Capitec Connect data to clients, equivalent to streaming 153,000 HD movies.
Capitec continues to lead on affordability, giving back R203m to clients through fee simplification
Capitec continues to accelerate investments in its digital ecosystem, delivering tangible benefits to clients. App users grew by 13% to 14-million, driving a 35% surge in e-commerce transactions. The adoption of digital payments also increased, with a remarkable 131% year-over-year rise in Digital Wallet transactions.
Capitec’s investments have made it a leader in digital services. Recent innovations include:
- Enhanced security: Innovative AI-enabled fraud prevention tools, which protect clients from paying to high-risk account numbers, stopped over 23,000 scam payments, saving clients over R200m.
- In-app calling: Free in-app calling improved Capitec’s client experience and saved them a combined R5m in airtime costs.
- Easier connections: Personal Banking Credit Card clients get 1% cash back on purchases, 1GB free Capitec Connect data monthly, and zero forex commission on international payments which saved clients R25m in the past six months.
- Time-saving: 3.9-million transactions, such as statement requests or account confirmation letters, were processed through in-branch self-service terminals, freeing consultants from 3.2-million workload minutes of in-branch activities.
Looking ahead
As Capitec approaches its 25th anniversary, it remains focused on purposeful innovation, staying true to its fundamentals while anticipating its clients’ needs.
Lee says, “Looking ahead, we will focus on delivering better client experiences through inclusive credit, smarter digital tools, and partnerships that remove barriers. Banking should be simple, accessible, and human, and we’re committed to expanding our digital ecosystem, deepening client relationships, and creating opportunities for every South African.”
Visit the Capitec website to watch the group’s interim results presentation.
This article was sponsored by Capitec.
