SA's R1.5 Trillion Gambling Problem

If you’re a reliability engineer, thank you for your service!

If Fintech is eating the world, cloud computing is eating fintech. With AWS servers down this week, we got a chance to see just how vulnerable cloud infrastructure can be. Might be why Nigerian banks are spending millions upgrading banking infrastructure. On to today’s edition.

Golden Nuggets

• Capitec just made accounting less of a pain for SMEs by integrating Stubs accounting software. Because who has time to do bookkeeping twice?

• Sanlam and TymeBank are cooking up a fintech super app that’s like a Swiss Army knife for your money: banking, payments, and rewards all in one shiny package.

• FNB teamed up with VezoPay to launch South Africa’s first smart payment ring. Yep, tap-and-go payments on your finger - James Bond, eat your heart out.

• TymeBank will rebrand as GoTyme in 2026. Here’s a write-up of their history.

Main Stories

Capitec + Stubs = Less Accounting, More Doing
Why it matters: Capitec just gave small businesses a high-five by linking bank accounts with Stubs accounting software. What this means is no more manual data entry, less chaos, and more time to actually run your business which is often a serious concern for small business owners.

Zoom In: This smart integration means transactions auto-import, reports update in real-time, and busy entrepreneurs can finally catch a break. Accounting meets efficiency, the dream team.

Be smart: If you’re in business banking, Capitec’s integration indicates that small businesses need active hands-on support in order to grow. Whoever builds this ecosystem best, will likely win loyalty.

Sanlam and TymeBank’s Super App: Because Who Needs a Bunch of Apps?
State of play: Imagine one app to rule them all - banking, insurance, payments, plus rewards and credit access. That’s what these two giants are brewing up for Africa’s digital natives.

Zoom In: Young, savvy users will love the combo. The app promises to break down financial barriers and sprinkle some fintech magic across the continent - and approval is in the pipeline.

Be smart: Sanlam and TymeBank’s financial partnership makes sense because Sanlam handle the risk, TymeBank handles the tech. But whether or not the value proposition is clear for the customer remains to be seen.

FNB’s Smart Ring: The Bling That Pays Your Bills
Why it matters: Forget wallets. Forget Google Pay. Forget Virtual Cards. FNB and VezoPay just put payments on your finger - quite literally. This smart ring lets you tap to pay with Visa and Mastercard credentials baked right in.

So What: No charging needed, just a sleek bit of wearable tech for fast, secure, contactless payments. It’s making James Bond-level cool a thing for everyday banking. The VezoPay ring uses Near-Field Communication (NFC) technology - what we use when we tap to pay. It enables users to make payments by making a fist and tapping the point-of-sale terminal.

And security? The ring supports tokenized encrypted transactions, which means your payment data is not directly stored on the ring itself.
Be smart: If you want to be that person who pays with style (and speed), this smart ring is worth a look. A nifty bit of tech for early adopters to show off and a signal that FNB is not behind the times.

The Scoop

South Africa’s battle against illegal online gambling is heating up. The National Gambling Board is hot on the trail of more than 90 rogue gambling websites, but the internet is playing hard to get - zero takedowns so far. Meanwhile, gambling ads have invaded every corner of media, including banking apps, prompting the regulator to clamp down to protect vulnerable groups from overspending and addiction.
Fun fact: online gambling was responsible for ~80% of the R1.5 trillion industry last year, with sports betting alone pulling in R716 billion - but with great cash flow comes great responsibility.

Policy Watch

The Scoop

• Uganda secured $2 billion from the World Bank after a previous funding freeze, unlocking critical resources for development.

• Hedge fund Enko Capital raised a private credit fund focused on Africa, tapping into growing demand for alternative finance in the region.

• Walmart is partnering with OpenAI to create AI-driven shopping experiences, signalling a big tech push into retail innovation.

• The recent AWS outage affected not just tech startups but also major banks like Standard Bank, highlighting the vulnerability of African fintech infrastructure

• End of an era as TymeBank will soon be rebranding to GoTyme. No longer Take Your Money Everywhere which was started under Deloitte’s in partnership with MTN way back in 2011.