Spot Money

Spot Money
Company typeLimited company
IndustryBanking
PredecessorVirgin Money South Africa
Founded2006; 18 years ago (2006) in South Africa
Headquarters
Cape Town
,
South Africa
Area served
South Africa
Key people
Andre Hugo (CEO)
Websitespotmoney.com

Spot Money is a South African mobile banking company, that provides bank accounts, debit and credit cards using an app. The Spot app is operated in association with Bidvest Bank.[1]

History

The company launched as Virgin Money South Africa in 2006, as a partnership between Virgin Group (owners of the Virgin Money brand) and Absa, as an issuer of credit cards.[2] The 50-50 joint venture was worth R240 million at the time of launch.[3] By 2013 Virgin Money's customers had R1 billion in total credit.[4] Virgin Money SA launched their Spot app cashless platform in February 2018.[5] As of July 2019 the Spot app had 400,000 users.[6]

Following the discontinuation of the Virgin Money South Africa credit card,[7] the company and app was acquired by its management and a local private equity company,[8] and renamed Spot Money.[9] The 118,000 former credit card customers, with R750 million in total credit, were transferred to Absa's own credit card offering.[5]

References

  1. ^ "Spot Help Center". help.spotmoney.com. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Absa brings Virgin Money to SA". Fin24. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  3. ^ "Virgin Money takes off in SA". www.iol.co.za. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  4. ^ "Virgin Money eyes retail banking in South Africa". BusinessLIVE. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Richard Branson's Virgin Money is shutting down its SA credit card". BusinessInsider. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  6. ^ "Virgin Money Spot is taking on Snapscan in South Africa - and it already has 400,000 users". BusinessInsider. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  7. ^ "Absa launches digital bank Spot Money in South Africa". FinTech Futures. 2 February 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  8. ^ Doyle, Kirsten (27 January 2021). "Spot Money debuts open banking offering in SA". ITWeb. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  9. ^ "We've Changed Our Name". Virgin Money. Retrieved 8 August 2021.