South African billionaire Michiel Le Roux’s Capitec targets SMEs with fintech push

Capitec Bank, a leading retail bank founded by South African billionaire banker Michiel le Roux, is taking a fresh step into fintech through a new partnership with Stub, an accounting software startup. The collaboration will give small and micro-businesses direct access to their Capitec transactional data, the bank said in a statement.

The integration marks a first for Capitec—linking its banking platform directly to small business software—and underscores its broader push to serve South Africa’s fast-growing community of small entrepreneurs.

Connecting banks and businesses

Connecting Banks and Businesses Through the new system, business owners can connect both personal and business Capitec accounts to Stub, allowing real-time visibility into income, expenses, and cash flow. Transaction data flows directly into the Stub app, which automatically reconciles payments and categorizes spending.

The new feature doesn’t only cater to registered companies. It also covers personal Capitec accounts, which many South Africans use to run side hustles, spaza shops, or freelance work. That recognition, Capitec said, reflects the practical reality of how the country’s informal economy operates.

Stub, which launched in 2023, was designed for business owners with limited financial expertise. Its platform enables users to issue invoices, track sales, and manage expenses in one place.

Strengthening South Africa’s informal economy

Tayla Dandridge, co-founder and chief executive at Stub, said the partnership aims to close a long-standing gap for small firms that have struggled to find tools directly linked to their banking platforms.

Chris Zietsman, Capitec’s executive head of business payments, said the integration supports South Africa’s informal and micro-enterprise sector, which contributes roughly R750 billion ($43 billion) in annual turnover. “By linking banking data with accounting tools, we’re removing one more barrier to running a business,” he said. 

Capitec’s broader growth story

Founded in 2001 by Le Roux, Jannie Mouton, and Riaan Stassen, Capitec has grown into one of South Africa’s largest retail banks, serving over 20 million customers and offering savings, loans, and credit products. The bank recorded a 19.6 percent increase in first-half profit to R5.6 billion ($326 million) for 2026, driven by strong income growth and cost discipline.

The bank has also been broadening its digital services. Between March and August 2025, customers made 1.9 million international card payments, a 24 percent increase from a year earlier, spending more than R1 billion ($57.4 million) overseas.

In August, Capitec also began working with the Department of Home Affairs to let customers apply for Smart IDs and passports at select branches—a move that reflects its broader push to blend banking with everyday services.