Limpopo Business 2017-18 edition

OVERVIEW
Investment Corporation holds
34% of equity. The corporate office
is in Johannesburg (which
also hosts a branch) and there
are four branches in Limpopo,
including Thohoyandou.
Ubank is owned by a trust that
is managed by the Chamber of
Mines and the National Union of
Mineworkers (NUM). It has about
100 branches and a strong presence
in Limpopo because of its
focus on the mining sector. Ubank
has about half-a-million clients.
The two most active agricultural
companies in Limpopo are
both registered to participate in
the financial sector. NTK, a subsidiary
of the Free State-based
VKB, has access to lending for
farmers and insurance products.
Afgri offers the same services
under the brand Unigro, and it
has another service called Gro
Capital Financial Services which
offers more sophisticated products
such as trade finance, foreign
exchange and currency and
interest rate hedging.
For many decades, South
Africa had a retail banking Big
Four – Standard Bank, Nedbank, Absa/Barclays and First National Bank.
All of them have continue to be well represented in the province, but
Capitec Bank has now also become a major player in the retail market.
Banks are working hard to offer products to the previously unbanked.
Nedbank has partnerships with shops such as Boxer Stores
and Pick n Pay where customers can have access to financial services
in previously unserviced areas and also on all days of the week such as
public holidays and Sundays. Nedbank also has Approve-it, which allows
customers to accept or reject an Internet transaction by cellphone.
Standard Bank’s community-banking initiative offers a low-cost
cellphone-banking service. Retailers can act as agents for the bank,
even in very remote rural areas. Shops such as Shoprite, Pep and Spar
are connected, as are certain spazas.
The insurance market has become more varied over time, with a
greater variety of products now available to more market segments,
including middle-income earners. A typical example of a specific product
that is responding to new realities is Old Mutual’s iWYZE medical
gap cover, designed to pay the difference between what a medical aid
scheme is willing to pay and what the hospital or doctor is charging.
ONLINE RESOURCES
Insurance South Africa: www.insurance.za.org
National Credit Regulator: www.ncr.org.za
Office of the Auditor-General of South Africa: www.agsa.co.za
Post Bank: www.postbank.co.za
Public Investment Corporation: www.pic.gov.za
South African Institute for Chartered Accountants:
www.saica.co.za
79 LIMPOPO BUSINESS 2017/18