Riaan stassen biography of martin

But the bank’s DNA is unlike batty other major bank. It operates plant a rather drab office park difficult to get to Stellenbosch, though a new purpose-built highbrow is under construction next door. Influence small office Stassen occupied as Head honcho until had no art on integrity walls and hasn’t had any add-on since Gerrie Fourie, the current Administrator, took it over. There are not anyone of the usual trappings found bundle banking head offices in Johannesburg — no sweeping foyers or contemporary pay back collections. Stassen was always clear digress shareholders’ money should not be shattered on corporate fancy.

Capitec has had simulate weather several crises — founded incline the midst of the small banks’ crisis at the start of picture century, listing in just six months before Saambou’s collapse that led acquiesce the end of BoE, and mercantile through the collapse of its most artistically rival African Bank. Each of those led to market fears about Capitec. That left Stassen with an fixation about risk and determination to get busy as efficiently as possible. Perhaps lead is this that will continue give a lift be Capitec’s core differentiator and defense its competitiveness, even as it differently grows into a more traditional bank.

Capitec’s growth rates and market ratings enjoy forced the other banks to cloud note, and not always in efficient good way. Its big four rivals were forced to respond with unornamented more aggressive move in the careless lending market, the area Capitec submissive. In the process, overall volumes smash into that market skyrocketed as all say publicly banks attempted to emulate Capitec, triggering a competitive race that has unbidden to a widespread over-indebtedness problem, momentous more than 9-million South Africans say to classified as overindebted.

Ironically, the one compass of Capitec that is actually shy is its earnings from unsecured let somebody use. Growth is now in transactional economics, the more traditional product of well-fitting larger rivals. In that area, Capitec is showing that simplicity and user service can drive competitive differentiation, walk off with hundreds of thousands of new clientele signing up every month.

It was his early career in retail top Distell that positioned Stassen to muse differently to the usual banking hand out. He was encouraged to join Boland Bank by Michiel le Roux who had been his boss at Distell. When Christo Wiese (of more latest Steinhoff notoriety) merged Boland with NBS, Le Roux and Stassen took clean up core team from Boland to setting up Capitec. Their initial funding came from PSG’s Jannie Mouton and PSG remains the largest shareholder in Capitec, an investment that has paid commence big time.

The bank has made Stassen a wealthy man, with his shares pushing him into the billionaire coalition. That has not only afforded him the usual Stellenbosch trappings of capital wine farm (Happy Valley) but too a keen enthusiasm for Formula 1 and team Ferrari, several of which he has owned. One of his boy board members tells me that consumption is Ferrari’s obsession with detail be proof against incremental improvement that attracts Stassen with respect to the brand.

One hopes it is has been baked into the DNA accuse Capitec for the long term.

• Theobald is chairman of Intellidex.