Mukuru Takes on South African Banks With New Transactional Account
Pan-African fintech Mukuru is expanding beyond its traditional remittance business into everyday banking in South Africa, launching a transactional account that allows customers to receive salaries, make bank transfers, access credit and send money across borders from the same financial ecosystem.
The Mukuru Account & Card, launched on September 30, is being offered in partnership with Bank Zero, which acts as the licensed sponsor bank and holds customer funds. Paymentology provides the processing infrastructure, while Mastercard provides the payment network.
The move gives Mukuru a stronger foothold in South Africa’s transactional banking market after more than two decades building its business around cross-border money transfers, particularly among customers sending money to families elsewhere in Africa.
Mukuru enters the market with a sizeable existing customer base. About 500,000 customers in South Africa already hold its prepaid card and are being targeted for migration to the new account.
“For 22 years, we’ve been synonymous with cross-border money transfers, and millions of our customers have trusted us with the money that matters most to them, the money they send to family,” Mukuru CEO Andy Jury said.
“Now, together with Bank Zero, we can give them their everyday banking too: getting paid, paying rent, shopping and sending money across borders, all from one account.”
The account allows customers to send electronic funds transfers and real-time payments to any South African bank, a function that was previously unavailable through Mukuru’s prepaid card offering. Customers can also receive salaries and other EFT payments directly into their accounts.
Monthly spending is capped at R150,000, while Mukuru says customers will have access to reduced ATM withdrawal fees and discounts on selected cross-border transfers.
Credit facilities will be provided by Mukuru Financial Services, a registered credit provider, rather than Bank Zero.
The product is aimed partly at consumers who continue to move regularly between cash and digital financial services, a segment Mukuru has built much of its African business around.
Mukuru says its wider distribution network includes about 320,000 physical locations offering its services or cash-in and cash-out facilities. In South Africa, customers can open the new account through the Mukuru app and WhatsApp, as well as through branches, participating partner locations, customer service offices and field agents.
“Just because someone transacts in cash should not mean they have access to fewer financial services,” Mukuru Chief Growth Officer Juan Seco said.
“The strength of the Account & Card is that it bridges that gap and can grow with the customer, leveraging the reach of our physical and digital networks.”
The South African expansion follows Mukuru’s recent launch of its Wallet & Card in Botswana, where it has been extending its offering beyond remittances into payments and stored-value financial services.
Mukuru now serves more than 17 million customers and says it has processed more than 100 million transactions. Its regulated regional footprint includes e-money licences in Botswana, Zambia and Malawi, alongside a deposit-taking microfinance licence in Zimbabwe.
The South African launch represents the latest step in what Jury describes as Mukuru’s “remittance-led neobank strategy” — using the customer base and distribution infrastructure built through cross-border transfers to expand into everyday financial services.
