Bank Zero reached its break-even point for the first time in August, four years and ten months after opening to the public. In the same month, the bank onboarded approximately half a million end customers from the Mukuru money transfer group, more than doubling the number of users on the platform.
Chairman Michael Jordan told TechCentral that the bank has 275,000 proprietary clients. CEO Narsai Yatin noted that Mukuru accounts were issued by Bank Zero, and funds are now beginning to move between them; this process requires issuing a new card for each client. According to Narsai, Bank Zero's total number of end customers exceeds 700,000.
The collaboration with Mukuru was not previously publicized. It is integrated into Bank Zero's alliance banking model, where fintech companies, retailers, and digital platforms issue card products on the bank's infrastructure instead of creating their own.
In April, Bank Zero named Paymentology as its first partner for card issuance and processing, and Narsai mentioned that the first large batches of transactions arrived in January.
Mukuru represents a significant asset. Founded in Cape Town in 2004, it is one of South Africa's oldest fintech companies, facilitating money transfers to over 60 countries through more than 320,000 collection and disbursement points. Its client base primarily consists of migrants and people without access to banking services.
When launched, the Mukuru card was backed by Standard Bank, signifying a transition of clients from one of the four major players.
Focus on the big fish
According to Narsai, this is hugely significant. Sponsor banks providing licenses and infrastructure to fintech companies have significantly increased service costs, with some clients facing cost increases of 100% or more. Narsai stated: 'If you put a 100% commission increase on the table, many of these guys will leave the game.' Bank Zero offered lower terms, and now a queue is forming: 'We will focus on the big fish, and we are talking about large volumes.'
Bank Zero's main argument has always been that owning its own core banking platform allows the bank to cover costs with far fewer clients than a new bank would require. It designed the system to reach break-even with 100,000 clients, compared to the two million or more required by competitors, according to him. Less than 300 million rand in capital was allocated for development.
However, there are two factors mitigating this success. Firstly, break-even was achieved with 275,000 organic clients, not the planned 100,000. Secondly, Jordan revealed that the founders were not receiving salaries. He noted: 'What was quite unique here was that the founders didn't pay themselves anything, so they had to support themselves through side jobs.' The bank also does not maintain a loan portfolio, which he called an advantage: 'We were able to achieve profitability with a small number of clients without engaging in lending. So now, if you add lending to this, it scales beautifully.'
Corporate accounts make up 18% of the portfolio, higher than the 10% initially projected in the business plan, with over 80% of registered companies using these accounts.
Narsai warned that profits will be uneven in the short term as employee bonuses still need to be paid. He expects stable profits in 2027.
The next step is the acquisition of Lesaka Technologies for 1.1 billion rand, which is still awaiting approval from the Prudential Authority. Currency exchange depends on Bank Zero being upgraded by the South African Reserve Bank from a restricted to a fully authorized dealer, allowing it to operate with corporate foreign exchange and money transfers—a capability obviously important for its newest partner.
Enough runway
Bank Zero and Lesaka Technologies extended the deal completion date to January 31, 2027, in June. Narsai characterized this as providing 'enough runway' for remaining approvals, pushing the deal closure back by months at most. Lincoln Mali, CEO of Lesaka Southern Africa, had previously told TechCentral this month that he expected the deal to close by the end of the current calendar year.
Narsai justified his decision to remain under a mutual banking license rather than switching to a commercial one, stating that the commercial structure creates unnecessary regulatory friction and capital requirements that Bank Zero does not utilize. The bank can add lending without changing its license. - © 2026 NewsCentral Media