DURBAN - TymeBank, South Africa's newest bank, has announced the appointment of its new Chief Executive, Tauriq Keraan with immediate effect.
Tauriq was previously deputy Chief Executive of TymeBank. He played an instrumental role in the bank’s development, having been a member of the team that led to Tyme’s inception in 2012 and having played a critical role in the market launch of TymeBank in 2019.
Keraan succeeds former Chief Executive Sandile Shabalala who resigned in June for personal reasons.
Dr Johan van Zyl, co-Chief Executive Officer of African Rainbow Capital, the controlling shareholder of TymeBank said, "Tauriq takes the reins at an important point in TymeBank’s evolution as he has to ensure customer enrolment is sustained over the coming months and beyond. Given his experience, both as a member of the team that launched TymeBank, and as someone who has worked in the space of digital innovation for more than a decade, both the TymeBank board and ARC, believe he will lead his executive team to implement the business strategy successfully".
Thabani Jali, Chairman of TymeBank said, "We are pleased that Tauriq will take up the position of Chief Executive of TymeBank as it will ensure continuity in the business. He is a seasoned executive who will continue to build TymeBank in its efforts to deliver affordable and accessible banking to our customers. Under Tauriq’s leadership, management will continue implementing the bank’s existing strategy".
The new Chief Executive spoke about his plans for TymeBank. Keraan said, "My plans for the bank is to fulfil its purpose to deliver financial inclusion to ordinary South Africans and to remain laser-focused on implementing our existing strategy. This includes maintaining the momentum of customer onboarding and to increasingly meet our customers’ needs by driving adoption of our EveryDay and GoalSave products. Within the next six to 12 months, we also intend to bring to market a responsible lending product for consumers with a differentiated personal loan product and a simple low-cost banking proposition for small businesses".
TymeBank management previously communicated that the overall market size of its target segment is estimated at about 20 million people of which it is aiming to acquire 2 million over a three-year period.
The bank reached the 600 000 customer mark, five months after its official launch in February. The bank said, "We believe that the growth of customers is due to the fact that it is so easy to become a TymeBank customer; it takes just 5 min to onboard and open an account. Our partnership with Pick n Pay and Boxer has also given us extended reach and exposed us to large volumes of customers across the country".
The bank is also planning on launching an unsecured personal loan product and a SME offering within the next 6 to 12 months.