Digital-first banking platform and fintech TymeBank intends to rebrand itself as GoTyme in the first half of 2026, aligning with its brand identity in some of its international markets.
According to a report by News24 on Monday, the rebrand was announced during a closed investor session hosted by TymeBank last week.
“We are indeed in the process of evolving our brand in South Africa to reflect our continued growth, maturity and commitment to customers across the economic spectrum,” TymeBank spokeswoman Pontsho Ramontsha told TechCentral.
The name “TymeBank” has its roots in the digital financial services provider’s mobile money origins. Tyme is an abbreviation of the phrase “Take Your Money Everywhere” and was coined by a Deloitte Consulting team led by Coenraad Jonker and Tjaart van der Walt in 2012. Jonker now serves as CEO of Tyme Group and van der Walt is a director.
Initially Tyme – then known as TymeCapital – was an MTN-backed mobile money service allowing retailers to offer local remittances. Partnerships with Pick n Pay and Bank of Athens helped the service expand its reach.
A 2014 partnership with Namibia’s Ebank, where Tyme supplied technology services underpinning some of Ebank’s market offerings, expanded Tyme’s reach even further afield. By 2015, Australia’s Commbank had taken a keen interest in the technological platform built by the Tyme team and acquired the fintech for some R365-million.
GoTyme
Commbank’s intention was to use Tyme’s technology to build a digital retail bank; it acquired Tyme with the intention to apply for a formal banking licence in South Africa. The application was filed with the Reserve Bank in 2015 under the TymeDigital brand, provisionally granted in 2016 and formally granted in 2017. That same year, Jonker and Van Der Walt created TymeGlobal to be the international arm of the business.
In 2018, Patrice Motsepe’s African Rainbow Capital bought 100% of TymeDigital from Commbank . Its first customers were onboarded in 2018. By November 2019, TymeDigital had signed up a million customers. By October 2024, 10 million customers were on the bank’s books and TymeBank became a unicorn with a valuation of US$1.5-billion. By then, TymeGlobal’s operations had already spread to the Philippines, Vietnam and Singapore, where the company is headquartered.
Read: TymeBank rolls out PayShap Request for merchant partners
The bank operates as TymeGroup in Singapore, but the GoTyme brand to be launched in South Africa next year aligns with its identity in the Philippines.
“While the process is still being finalised, we’re looking forward to unveiling the elevated brand identity once all internal and regulatory steps are complete,” said Ramontsha. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media
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