South Africa has four banking MVNOs (Capitec Connect, FNB Connect, Standard Bank Connect and Nedbank Connect), and they’re all essentially running the exact same playbook. The logic is simple enough: use a mobile product to deepen the banking relationship, gather behavioural data between transactions and create sticky switching costs as a customer’s financial life grows….
Absa managing executive Nick Nkosi Eight months after telling TechCentral it was readying the launch of a mobile virtual network operator, Absa is giving very little away about how those plans are progressing – or when South Africans can expect to see an Absa-branded Sim card. Last October, Nick Nkosi, Absa’s managing executive for transactional…
South Africa’s banking MVNOs were conceived as a defensive weapon. Banks watched mobile operators build payments platforms, accumulate transaction data and push into financial services from the connectivity side. The mobile virtual network operator was the answer: own the mobile relationship, generate behavioural data between transactions and build switching costs that make the customer harder…
Every South African bank that has launched a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) – Capitec, FNB, Standard Bank, Nedbank and soon Absa – has built its mobile business on phone numbers it does not control. The international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) embedded in every Sim card belongs to the host network. The phone number –…
Capitec CEO Graham Lee Capitec Bank has scrapped call charges between its own Capitec Connect Sim cards in a sharp competitive move by South Africa’s largest mobile virtual network operator. CEO Graham Lee announced the change at the group’s full-year results presentation in Stellenbosch on Wednesday, saying calls between any two Capitec Connect numbers are…
Cell C CEO Jorges Mendes Cell C’s leading market position as a platform for mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) in South Africa is producing strong growth for the company. In its interim results for the six months to 30 November 2025 – the first since it listed on the JSE on 27 November – Cell…
Nedbank’s Eugene Liebenberg Nedbank Connect, Nedbank’s recently launched mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), is taking a slow and steady approach to entering the South African market, but its ambitions are broader, with other markets in Africa firmly in its sights. Eugene Liebenberg, head of digital products at Nedbank, said in an interview with TechCentral that…
Absa’s Nick Nkosi Banking group Absa is preparing to launch a mobile virtual network operator, making it the last of South Africa’s largest banks to enter the MVNO market. Nick Nkosi, managing executive for transactional and deposits at Absa Group, told TechCentral in an exclusive interview on Friday that the bank has been conducting research…
Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) is exploring the launch of an eSim-capable mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) offering that would provide connectivity services to inbound international travellers. According to Acsa, a state-owned company that operates many of South Africa’s major commercial airports, a firm decision to launch an MVNO has not yet been taken. But…
For years, mobile telecommunications was dominated by a handful of large operators, or MNOs. Now, with almost 30 MVNOs, or mobile virtual network operators, serving niche consumer bases in banking, retail and education, among other sectors, the MVNO market is thriving. However, brands looking to take advantage of this boom and add mobile services to…
