Capitec Bank has voiced its support for Leon Schreiber’s efforts to modernise South Africa’s population registration database after TymeBank on Tuesday excoriated the home affairs minister’s decision to impose big price increases for online identity verification.

“Capitec supports the department of home affairs’ initiative to upgrade the National Population Register and enhance the stability and reliability of its online verification system,” Capitec said in a statement on Wednesday.

“A secure and stable national identity system is crucial for safeguarding South Africans against fraud and fostering a trusted digital economy,” it added.

TymeBank co-founder Coen Jonker on Tuesday published an open letter to Schreiber (read it here) in which the banking executive warned that the price hikes – from as low as 15c to R10/query – “threatens financial inclusion, digital transformation and national compliance efforts”.

“The move is a crippling blow to financial inclusion and digital progress in South Africa,” Jonker said. “This is not just a policy shift – it’s a regressive tax on the most vulnerable South Africans. It undermines the progress we’ve made towards digital inclusion, weakens the financial sector’s ability to comply with anti-money laundering laws and risks reversing efforts to exit the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list.”

But Schreiber quickly hit back at Jonker, using social media platform X to call the open letter “faux outrage” and to accuse TymeBank of “profiteering over people”.

‘Critical building block’

Capitec has now sprung to the minister’s defence.

“While we understand these crucial upgrades require a fee increase from the department, we have decided to absorb the additional costs. This means our clients will see no change to their banking fees because of this initiative for the current financial year,” Capitec said. It didn’t say whether it would be forced to increase its prices in its next financial year.

“The digital identity verification service is a critical building block to prevent fraud, which ultimately comes at a significantly higher cost to all South Africans. By ensuring this system remains robust, we are helping to build a safer and more accessible financial future for everyone.