CAPE TOWN – In the latest Lafferty global rankings Capitec was named the best bank in South Africa and has been named as one of the best banks globally.
The Lafferty Banking 500 study is a global research report that analysis 500 global banks. The study rates the banks by giving them a star out of 5. How does the study assess these banking institutions, seems to be the main question.
The report looks at a number of factors that includes:
- The financial and non-financial disclosures in the banks’ latest annual reports.
- The banks different business models.
It should be noted that the study does not only examine the bank's financials and ratios but also looked at other factors that included, strategy, work culture, customer satisfaction, and brand promises.
SA's Capitec was one of only eight global banks that obtained a five-star “top quality” rating.
In the Lafferty study, most SA banks received a 3.7 ranking. When you compare SA banks to their global counterparts, SA banks fair quite well. Canadian banks received an average score of 2.9, UK banks obtained an average score of 3.5 and the US scored a mere 2.8 rating.
CEO REACTION
“The Lafferty ranking is an encouraging validation of the work done by our team to build Capitec’s brand, culture, and digital touch points. Our belief is that banking should be simple, affordable and transparent and as we strive to be the best retail bank in the world, this recognition is a strong indication we’re heading in the right direction,” Capitec chief executive Gerrie Fourie said.
10 MILLION CUSTOMERS
At the end of September Capitec reported that it has over 10 million customers.
Capitec published their financial results for the six months ending August 31, 2018 and the bank said that it has seen a huge boost in profit as well as hitting more than 10 million customers.
According to the results, the bank posted a 20 percent growth in headline earnings to R2,46 billion and headline earnings per share increased by 20 percent to R21,28. Capitec's net transaction fee income (non-lending) also increased from R2,4bn to R3,1bn on the back of a rise in staff, branches and in IT infrastructure costs.
There has also been a 25 percent increase in transaction growth and the bank has pointed out that they have 10,5 million active clients. The South African bank said that strong client growth is one of the key drivers of its performance'
Capitec said that they are continuously improving to ensure that customers get the best service and are able to control their money. According to the bank, they have brought in 109 000 additional active clients every month.