Tyme Bank Review

Take Your Money Everywhere (TYME) is a fairly new bank in South Africa. Unlike a traditional bank, TYME bank is a fully digital bank offering online banking services to South Africans of all walks of life. It operates on a web platform, mobile banking app and using cell phone USSD codes. Read this Tyme Bank review to get an honest opinion of TymeBank South Africa.

About Tyme Bank

The bank was founded in 2012 going by the name TYME. In 2015, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia acquired it and named it Tyme Digital. Then in 2018, ARC Imali-Madi (RF) bought 10% of the bank’s stock. In the same year, Patrice Mostepe’s African Rainbow Capital Invesments (ARC) bought 90% of its stock. But lately it was funded by Ethos Intelligence (AI) fund to the tune of R200 million in a trade which saw the fund gain 8% share of the bank. In total, TymeBank has raised R950 million in funding over 3 rounds. Still, the majority shareholder is ARC whose share is currently at 57.7%.

The bank is targeting the South Africans without a bank account and is yet to reach its full potential. It provides a transactional bank account with low fees. According to ARC, the bank is expected to break even in 2022. By the end of June 2021, the bank hit 3.45 million customers and was recording an average 5000 daily new customers.

It is currently in partnership with Pick n Pay and Boxer retailers to enable financial service delivery in the banking sector.

How to Apply for a Tyme Bank Bank Account

Visit your local Pick n Pay or Boxer store or using your computer or smartphone, go to Tymebank’s website. You must be above 16 years of age, have an authentic South African national ID and a cellphone number to open a bank account with them. Pick n Pay and Boxer stores host self service kiosks that can be used to register for accounts. The website serves the same purpose as the Tyme Bank smartphone app, which you can download on all platforms and use to obtain an account.

Internet Banking

Internet banking is a new convenient way to make financial transactions on a smartphone or computer using your bank’s website or app. Banks that use internet banking sometimes have physical addresses. TymeBank does not.

TymeBank is an online bank, which means that unlike traditional banks, it does not have branches that customers can walk into. Everything is handled through internet banking.

It offers money transfer, interest paid savings, money transactions, and education online using their app and website. In future, TymeBank plans to offer credit cards and loan facilities.

Charges for Internet Banking with TymeBank

• Android banking subscription is free.
• TymeBank account to account money transfer is free.
• TymeBank account to account Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) is free.
• Balance inquiries are free.
• Getting a 12 month bank statement on the app or the website or sent to your email is free.
• Getting proof of account is free.
• Buying vouchers is R3.
• Making local online payments is free.
• Making international online payments are charged 2% of the cost of the purchase.
• Requests to stop every R1 – 1000 debit order transaction cost R9.
• Cash withdrawals have a nominal fee (R9 per R1 000 or part thereof for cash withdrawals at ATMs). However you can withdraw cash for free with your debit card to Pick N Pay or Boxer stores.

Tyme Bank Review: Accounts and User Profiles

TymeBank has three user profiles that customers are given depending on how much they share their personal details with the bank: Just met, Getting to know you and Good friends.

Just met

Once you register with the bank using your national ID and cellphone number you get this profile. With this profile, you can transact only up to R20000 a day and up to R40000 a month.

Getting to know you

This is the next profile that you get when you add your passport photo and your fingerprints plus some additional personal information to your account details. With this profile, you can transact to an increased limit of R200000 a day and R1400000 a month.

Good friends

This profile is for those who go ahead to verify their residential information. The transaction limits for this profile are the same as those for “Getting to know you” profile.

EveryDay Personal Account

Tymebank’s EveryDay Personal Account is the standard account you get when you register with TymeBank. It has no monthly maintenance charges and most of the transactions done with it are free. You can use upto 10 GoalSaves for 10 separate goals with this account. You also get a free VISA debit card for this account.

With the account, you can:

• Withdraw cash for free at a Pick n Pay or Boxer till
• Shop using your VISA debit card
• Send money to other TymeBank accounts for free and to other banks at R6
• Buy airtime, data and SMS bundles as well as electricity from Eskom. You can also apply for Free Basic Electricity (FBE) from Eskom using the TymeBank app
• Pay funeral policy from Hollard insurance.

EveryDay Business Account

TymeBank offers sole-proprietorship owners an account that helps them manage their business finances. To open this account, you must first have a Personal EveryDay account for which you must have verified your personal details at the self service kiosk.

The profile limits on daily and monthly transactions are the same here as they are for Personal EveryDay accounts. You share the profile limits while using both accounts.

This account enables bulk payments to 30 different invoices at the same time. It also lets you make payments to TymeBank accounts, accounts from other banks and cellphone numbers in the same grouped payment once.

Total VAT is R5000 for all prepaid bills you pay per day for airtime, SMSs, data and electricity using this account.

Like EveryDay Personal Bank Account, there are no monthly charges levied to this account and the first cash deposit of each month at a Pick n Pay or Boxer till is free. You also earn rewards for shopping at the two stores just like with the Personal EverDay Account. Similarly, you can set 10 GoalSaves for 10 separate goals with this account.

The money you get into your linked account goes to the Personal EverDay Account and it is transferable to your EveryDay Business Account at no extra cost.

TymeBank VISA Debit Card

TymeBank offers you a free debit card when you open an account with them. The bank card is issued at their self-service kiosks which you can find at your local Pick n Pay or Boxer store. If you register using the self-service kiosk, you get the VISA debit card immediately. You can use the debit card to:

• Make local online payments for free.
• Make withdrawals at the Pick n Pay or Boxer till for free
• Make international online payments at 2% the cost of the purchase.
• Make cash withdrawals at another till point different from the two stores at a cost R3 per withdrawal.
• Make a debit card inquiry at an ATM for R3.
• Deposit cash at a Pick n Pay or Boxer till at R9 for every R1-1000 amount.
• Withdraw money at an ATM at R8 for every amount between R1 and R1000 withdrawn.

When you use your debit card at a Pick n Pay store to pay at the checkout, you get double shopper points as an added advantage to using your debit card.

Self Service Kiosks and Tills

Since it is an online bank, TymeBank does not have physical addresses like traditional banks. To aid with necessary physical item exchanges TymeBank uses self-service kiosks and tills that are found at any Pick n Pay or Boxer store.

The tills can be used to make cash deposits or withdrawals. Cash withdrawals are free while cash deposits using the TymeBank debit card or TymeCode cost R6 for every R1-1000. But the first deposit of each month is free.

The self-service kiosk takes additional information that the did not collect online when you registered; apart from which, it issues the free VISA debit card you get when you register. Each self-service kiosk has a “TymeBank ambassador”  whose job is to help those who want to use the kiosk.   

Disputes and Penalties

Tyme bank fines its customers:

• R3 for debit card and debit order declines due to incorrect pin or insufficient funds.
• R9 to stop every R1-1000 debit order or debit card transaction.
• R60 for every debit card replacement.
• R60 of your request to stop debit order stays over 40 days.
• R60 for every dispute they are unsuccessful at.
• R160 for every time a late payment is reversed.

Advantages of Using TymeBank

It is easy to open an account with TymeBank. It only takes about 5 minutes to do so and they don’t request new customers to fill in forms or give extra details when registering. The charges TymeBank charges their customers for financial services are low. Most are free, but the rest do not exceed R10 for each transaction. Tyme bank transactions are also quick and straightforward because it’s a smartphone app and website are easy to use.

TymeBank also offers high-interest savings of up to 8% on their GoalSave savings platform, which is higher than most other banks offer. 

Small Business(sole proprietorships) owners can benefit from TymeBank’s EveryDay Business account that links to their EveryDay Personal Account. Using this feature, small business owners can manage the income they get from the business and their personal funds separately. Which makes it easier to manage business and personal finances in the same app or website.

Disadvantages of Using TymeBank

Having a little digital know-how is a requirement for a TymeBank customer. Without which you can’t use the website or the app or a self service kiosk. Although they offer help at the kiosk, the fact that a lot of the services the bank offers are through internet banking is discouraging to those who don’t know how to use the internet or are just stubborn in their habits.  Especially, elderly people will have a problem in this regard.

TymeBank can improve on the customer care service delivery. There have been lots of complaints around their customer care service. The self-service machines discourage people from using them because they often have system failures.

TymeBank still charges fees for using ATMs and other tills to make withdrawals although it is free at the Pick n Pay and Boxer tills. Additionally, checking balances at ATMs are also charged.

Not a lot of online shops accept payment from TymeBank at the moment.

TymeBank does not offer credit services or facilitate loans to its customers. Although, there are plans to make these services available in the future.

The EveryDay Business Account does not accept corporations or partnerships yet, it is only for sole proprietorships.

TymeBank’s Security

TymeBank has several layers of security to protect customers, to help keep their money safe and prevent fraudulent activity.

It is an Authorised Financial Services (FSP 49140) and a Registered Credit Provider (NCRCP 10774). Its registration number is 2015/231510/06.

Their online infrastructure is hosted on the Amazon Amazon Web Based cloud services. They make sure to update their website and app security frequently. With these updates, they prevent cyber attacks. They also use a one-time-pin (OTP) which is sent to the cell phone of a registering customer for extra customer security.

TymeBank will never ask for you banking details via social media. 

Tyme Bank in Summary

TymeBank has a lot to offer to individuals and sole traders (owners of sole proprietorships). Individuals can take advantage of the free services they offer like no monthly maintenance cost, withdrawals using tills at local Pick n Pay or Boxer stores and online purchases for local items. Individuals can also earn rewards for shopping at Pick n Pay or Boxer stores as can sole traders. Sole proprietorships can benefit from the ability to make bulk payments to employees and bulk payments for invoices. But only for those who are willing to use internet banking.

On the other hand, they have some things they can improve on if they want to contend. They have poor customer care service, faulty self service tills, highly priced penalties and unavailable services. In addition, there are some people who will bias towards the bank because they can’t use it or will not use it due to the fact that it is an online bank.

Overall, TymeBank offers low cost financial services and is fast and easy to register and to use.

This Tyme Bank review lets you in on everything you need to know about one South Africa’s leading provider of digital banking services.

READ ALSO:

• Tyme Bank Internet Banking
• Virtual Banking – Questions Answered
• Shoprite Money Market
• CrowdFunding South Africa