Capitec Bank’s mobile brand, Capitec Connect, has slashed the price of data bundles across the board.
According to a statement on Friday, the price cuts were influenced by a poll Capitec conducted among its customers, through which the bank found that 87% of respondents reported that high data costs restricted their access to critical work, education and other opportunities.
“Understanding the economic climate is crucial, and we know many South Africans are carefully managing their expenses. That’s why we’re proactively lowering costs to provide tangible savings for our clients,” said Capitec Connect head Dalene Steyn.
Around 43% of Capitec customers who participated in the poll reported using data mostly in the afternoon, with activity for work, school, study and online shopping dominating their consumption profiles. Activities such as binge-watching and scrolling social media were the staple for 32% of those polled.
Although relatively data-light activities took centre stage regarding their level of importance and the time people apportioned to them, social media (62%) followed by music and video streaming (32%) were reported by users as what consumes most of their data.
“These insights reveal that data has become an essential enabler of careers, education and staying informed,” said Steyn.
Pricing
Capitec Connect’s new pricing is as follows:
| Bundles | Old price (R) | New Price (R) | % Reduction |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500MB (1-day) | 13 | 10 | 23 |
| 1GB (7-day) | 29 | 25 | 14 |
| 2GB (7-day) | Unknown | 35 | Unknown |
| 5GB (7-day) | 100 | 85 | 15 |
| 5GB (30-day) | 145 | 100 | 31 |
| 10GB (30-day) | 199 | 150 | 25 |
Competition in South Africa’s mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) market is intense, with more than 20 players vying for different segments in the sector.
An October 2024 analysis by TechCentral comparing 30-day data bundle prices across all MVNOs showed Afrihost AirMobile had the cheapest bundles overall. With these new price drops from Capitec, however, the cost of a 5GB (R100) and 10GB (R150) from the bank now matches the Afrihost AirMobile prices, making the two MVNOs jointly the most affordable for data in South Africa.
Read: Telkom MVNO platform unveiled
The fight for market share is not limited to the consumer space; mobile operators also vie for market share by attempting to sign on MVNOs that have potentially large and most active customer bases, since they provide the infrastructure that MVNOs use to provide their services.
Cell C has dominated the wholesale MVNO space since its 2006 launch of South Africa’s first virtual operator, the now-defunct Virgin Mobile. Almost 70% of all MVNOs in South Africa use Cell C’s infrastructure, including Capitec Connect. MTN is steadily becoming a strong player in the wholesale space. Vodacom announced its first MVNO customer last September and Telkom launched its own MVNO enablement platform in March.
MVNOs target specific niches and offer those customers a more targeted set of products and services compared to infrastructure players.
Banking MVNOs like Capitec Connect are among the largest and most successful in South Africa. Among its direct competitors, which include Standard Bank Connect, FNB Connect and the nascent Old Mutual Connect, FNB has the most expensive data prices, with 6GB – the closest bundle to the standard 5GB offered by other players in the industry – costing R279. FNB Connect’s 12GB bundle – again the closest to the 10GB industry standard – costs a staggering R499.
Read: It’s getting easier to launch an MVNO in South Africa
“We listen to our clients and are constantly looking for ways to offer them more value. By lowering our data prices, especially on the larger, longer-validity bundles, we hope to alleviate some financial pressure and ensure more South Africans can stay connected using some of South Africa’s best-priced prepaid bundles,” said Steyn. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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