Exclusive: TymeBank to launch in Indonesia as it continues Southeast Asia focus

TymeBank, the South African digital bank with R4 billion ($222 million) in customer deposits, will launch in Indonesia by the end of 2024. It is the bank’s third Southeast Asian market, after launching in the Philippines in October 2022 and Vietnam in January 2024.

In Indonesia, the company will not immediately pursue a banking license but will offer its lending product, Merchant Cash Advance, to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). It used a similar strategy in Vietnam.

“We see a massive opportunity with good profit potential in the small business lending space in Indonesia and the region,” Tyme Group chair Coen Jonker told TechCabal.

“We can also build our brand faster because it takes a lot more time and money to get a full banking license and infrastructure up and running.”

Founded in  2018 by Coenraad Jonker and Tjaart van der Walt, TymeBank focuses on low-income earners and SMEs.

Backed by Tencent, British International Investment, and Patrice Motsepe’s Africa Rainbow Capital (ARC), TymeBank has raised $316 million. It is currently raising a $150 million Series D round and plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange by 2028.

With over 60 million SMEs and limited access to traditional financing, Indonesia presents a market opportunity for TymeBank to grow its merchant lending business. It has disbursed $100 million to over 60,000 small businesses in South Africa.

The company’s Phillipines operations reported a 2.47 billion Philippine pesos ($42 million) loss in 2023, its first full year of operations. According to Jonker, the company aims to break even in 2025 and achieve full-year profitability in South Africa in 2024.

TymeBank will reach 10 million customers in South Africa and 5 million in the Philippines by October 2024. “In the Philippines, we have achieved half in two years of the total customer base that we achieved in South Africa over six years, so that is an amazing growth story,” Jonker said.

In the meantime, the Southeast Asia market’s combination of a friendly regulatory environment and expansive potential market has TymeBank focused on the region. In the future, the bank will not rule out an African expansion, with Jonker saying the move is a question of “when and not if.”