TymeBank slams ID verification fee hike as Cosatu praises reform

SOUTH Africa’s Home Affairs Department is facing a backlash from fintech TymeBank over its decision to raise fees for real-time identity verification services by 6 500%, a move it argues is necessary to safeguard national security and fix a failing system.

- PHILIPPA LARKIN

Digital lender TymeBank on Tuesday accused the government of adopting an “anti-poor” and “anti-competitive” policy after the Department of Home Affairs gazetted new tariffs for banks and financial institutions accessing the National Population Register (NPR).

The bank said the sharp increase in costs - from R0.15 to R10 per real-time verification - would unravel years of progress in digital transformation and financial inclusion.

TymeBank co-founder and CEO Coenraad Jonker warned that the new fees, effective July 1, would make it impossible to offer South Africa's only accessible, zero-fee bank account to millions of grant recipients and informal workers.

“This is not how public infrastructure should function,” Jonker wrote in an open letter to Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber. “Essential digital services must be reliable, affordable, and accessible. Anything less is a betrayal of the trust South Africans place in their government.”

TymeBank is calling on national leadership including the President, the Minister of Finance, and the Reserve Bank Governor to intervene.