Capitec CEO Gerrie Fourie has spent over 11 years at the helm of the bank and has grown the finance house dramatically in that time. The customer base of 5 million when he took over as CEO in 2014, has grown to 24 million customers now.
The bank has branched out into life insurance, mortgage loans and is looking to grow its recently established business banking arm. And as the bank has grown, so too has the value its given to shareholders and other stakeholders.
Fourie has credited the growth and success of the bank, which has gone beyond basic lending, to a single-minded determination to focus on delivering on the principles of accessibility, simplicity, service and affordability. He says investment in the banks people has been a key enabler. And while technology is a vital feature of their advancement, he says physical bank structures remain import for engaging with existing and potential customers.
"Technology 00 if you look at tech, its like a new car - every 5/6 years, you need to upgrade it or change it. I think data is critical, because you really need to understand your client and where youre going and, for us, our business model is different to the banks - everyone believes that digital is the answer. Weve got over 13 mil on our digital platform, but we believe that the client still wants that personal interaction and thats why weve still got over 880 branches - were still going to open up another,"
Capitec is focusing on its newly established business banking division, looking to finance SMEs that have historically found it difficult to get financing due to traditional banks insistence on using existing assets as collateral.
