TymeBank will be venturing into insurance from October, partnering with Hollard to sell funeral cover through Pick n Pay kiosks.
The inclusion of products from third-parties was on the radar since the bank, which is owned by Patrice Motsepe's African Rainbow Capital (ARC), launched in February 2019. But given the establishment of African Rainbow Life a few months after TymeBank's launch and ARC's ties to Sanlam and Alexander Forbes, there were expectations that the bank would partner with them to sell insurance and funeral products.
But Hollard's entrenched market position in the low-income part of the population and its good brand visibility seem to have won this time. TymeBank CEO Tauriq Keraan said the partnerships with Hollard and Pick n Pay will enable the bank to bring a "truly innovative offering" and a differentiated digital experience. The funeral cover will be an instant purchase through the kiosks with no paperwork. For now, it will be offered only to new customers, which might be a strategy for TymeBank to attract more clients. Existing customers will get it at a later stage.
TymeBank has been tactical about who it gets into bed with. Early this year, it signed a deal with the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) although the acquisition of congregants as clients has been affected by the lockdown restrictions that forbade large gatherings and social distancing which discouraged people from frequenting retailers.
The bank was only able to only 40 000 customers from the church, but ARC co-CEO, Johan van Zyl, said on Tuesday that the bank still hopes to get 2 million customers from the church across the country.
"This is a very key grouping for us because so far it seems that we get more primary accounts from the ZCC membership," he said.
The ZCC is a big part to TymeBank's journey towards break-even. But bringing third-party products to its offering was also an important part of bringing new customers to the bank, said Keraan in December last year.
