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Ahead of an expected interest rate cut announcement on Thursday afternoon, TymeBank has announced that it will keep rates on its accounts unchanged – no matter how steep the repo rate cut.
The monetary policy committee is under pressure to cut the key rate, which is currently at 6.25%, by a large margin to help ease the local economic crisis which has deepened due to the coronavirus pandemic. The consensus expectation among economists is a cut of 50 basis points.
TymeBank will keep its interest rate steady at a maximum of 10% on its savings account, the bank announced on Thursday morning. From the first rand customers save, they earn 6%. After 30 days, this increases to 7%, and after 90 days, the rate increases to 9%. Savings are available immediately. But those customers who are prepared to give 10 days’ notice before accessing their money, earn 10%.
TymeBank does not have credit products yet. While it previously planned to roll out unsecured lending, including credit cards, at full-scale from last month, this has not yet happened. A spokesperson told Fin24 that these products remain in the pipeline.
The bank, owned by Patrice Motsepe’s African Rainbow Capital, was launched in April 2019 and now has more than 1.5 million customers.
The bank has 800 kiosks at Pick n Pay and Boxer stores across the country, and in light of the coronavirus has introduced a strict cleaning regime at every kiosk. “We’re monitoring the situation closely,” says TymeBank’s Chief Strategy Officer Greg Illgner. “Minute by minute.”
