Cover story

Ray Deftereos and Suvania Moodliar, OM Bank

There’s a new bank in town and it’s betting that its modern tech stack is going to give it the edge against the incumbents, with their multiple millions of customers. While you’ve been able to download the OM Bank app for a couple of months, it officially opened i s doors to the public on November 1, and, as you read this, billboards are almost certainly being hammered into place all over South Africa.

CEO Clarence Nethengwe is on record as saying that the bank, at present, doesn’t have capital, and is dependent on the Old Mutual Group. Speaking to Business Day in March, he said it would request another capital injection at the end of this year, until such time as it got to break-even point, which he expected to take until 2028. In the meantime, it will fund the bank with between R1.1bn and R1.3bn in 2026 and 2027.