Online bank 20Twenty has at last found a buyer in UK banking group Standard Chartered, which has been authorised to operate as a full-service bank in SA.
Standard Chartered, which has had a representative office in SA since 1992, will now operate in the local wholesale and retail banking sectors.
Peter Sullivan, Standard Chartered`s Africa CE, says the 20Twenty acquisition was signed yesterday afternoon. The online bank is to serve as the platform for Standard Chartered`s growth in the local market.
The group`s spokesmen declined to disclose exactly how much was paid for 20Twenty, saying only that it was "less than $10 million".
20Twenty founder and CEO Christo Davel has been appointed head of consumer banking for Standard Chartered Bank in SA.
He says the group will retain the 20Twenty brand and ensure the brand is in fact enhanced.
Sullivan says the bank has recruited 21 new people and will be looking for more. "We are actively seeking black staff to the most senior level."
He says there are clear opportunities in the market despite the domination by four banks. "We are not unaware of the challenges ahead. SA is a very sophisticated market, and not only in African terms."
Davel says that during the entire 18 months of curatorship, 20Twenty lost only 6% of its 40 000 customers it had secured in the six months before Saambou`s collapse. The bank will have as one of its priorities "getting those customers back to where they were before the curatorship".
While the bank`s spokesmen say it is too early to talk about specific strategies, they say they add to the current products offered by 20Twenty.
"We want to be a significant player in the retail market, and we can`t with just transaction products," says Davel.
Sullivan says while it will be difficult not to have some physical retail banking presence, "we will have to see".
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