By Zuko Komisa
- OM Bank has surged past one million customers just a year after its public launch, matching Capitec’s fierce daily growth rate of 4,500 new sign-ups.
- By tapping into Old Mutual’s massive 14-million-strong mass-market base and established funeral insurance network, half of its new clients are entirely fresh to the group.
- With eyes firmly set on breaking even by 2028, the bank is transforming into Old Mutual’s primary growth engine to challenge South Africa’s lucrative banking profit pool.
OM Bank has achieved a meteoric rise, crossing the one million customer milestone a mere year after its public launch.
Propelled by Old Mutual’s existing ecosystem, extensive branch network, and established Money Account offerings, the bank is rapidly expanding its footprint in the competitive middle-market sector.
Targeting customers earning between R5,000 and R80,000 per month with a keen focus on those below R50,000 OM Bank is taking direct aim at a segment traditionally dominated by Capitec.
Backed by Old Mutual’s deeply embedded funeral insurance dominance within the mass and foundation cluster, the bank is adding a staggering 4,500 new clients daily.
Notably, half of these customers are completely new to Old Mutual, proving the brand’s broad market appeal beyond its existing base.
This explosive growth has caught leadership by surprise, triggering a strategic pivot to position OM Bank as the core ecosystem anchor and the group’s primary growth engine.
CEO Clarence Nethengwe and Old Mutual CEO Jurie Strydom are shifting focus from merely establishing a right to win against competitors to actively contesting South Africa’s banking profit pool.
To hit the 2028 break-even target, leadership aims to lift customer activity levels to between 36% and 38% once the core banking rollout finishes.
With investor confidence riding on narrowing losses by the second half of the 2026 financial year, Nethengwe remains laser focused on turning the bank into a profitable powerhouse that will ultimately revitalise Old Mutual’s share price for long-suffering shareholders.
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