Director’s Cut: Masterclass in financial sector disruption from Easy Equities founder Charles Savage

In this Director’s Cut, Alec Hogg sits down with EasyEquities CEO Charles Savage to unpack how South Africa is turning a corner — and how his fintech powerhouse is leading the charge. Savage explains why he’s “overwhelmed with optimism” about the economy, reveals EasyEquities’ breakthrough to one million active investors, and shares how AI is transforming the way South Africans invest. From global expansion into Kenya and the Philippines to bold plans for a South African stablecoin, Savage lays out a vision for building wealth, innovation, and confidence in a country rediscovering its momentum.Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..Watch here.Listen here.BizNews Reporter.When Alec Hogg speaks to Charles Savage, it always feels like an electric jolt of optimism. Not the naive kind, but the grounded optimism of someone who’s spent over a decade building something that changed the way South Africans invest. Savage, the CEO of Purple Group and co-founder of EasyEquities, has reason to smile. The company has crossed the one-million active investor mark, cementing its place as one of South Africa’s most successful fintech stories.But it’s not just about numbers. For Savage, this milestone signals a shift in the country’s psyche — a growing confidence in its own economic future. “I’m overwhelmed with optimism,” he tells Hogg. “Eighteen months ago, things looked grim. Today, it feels like South Africa is waking up.”That awakening, Savage believes, is partly due to stronger macro fundamentals. The Reserve Bank’s decision to target 3% inflation, for instance, could be transformative. “Low inflation means lower interest rates, and that stimulates growth. It’s the best news investors could hear,” he says. “People confuse high inflation with high returns, but the truth is the opposite. You need a low cost of capital to build new businesses and generate real returns.”This shift is already visible. The rand is one of the best-performing emerging market currencies this year. “If South Africa were a stock, its price would be soaring,” Savage quips. “We’ve been at the bottom of the pile for so long, we forgot what it feels like to win. The Springboks reminded us — and so is the economy.”Still, negativity lingers. “People love bad news,” he says with a grin. “It sells. But the narrative is changing. I see it every day — friends coming home after years abroad. They can feel something’s different.”That same momentum is mirrored inside EasyEquities. The company’s growth has reached what Savage calls the “flywheel stage.” It took six years to hit R1 billion in assets; now it can add nearly R2 billion in a single month. “That’s the power of compounding,” he explains. “The bigger we get, the faster we grow. The business is now at scale — every rand of revenue is driving more profit than ever before.”Purple Group’s revenue rose by R87 million while costs increased by just R35 million — a sign, Savage says, that the “crocodile effect” has begun. “Talk is cheap, money buys the whiskey,” he laughs. “We’ve talked about the jaws of the crocodile widening — more revenue, less cost growth. This year, we proved it.”And then there’s the ambition. EasyEquities wants to be one of South Africa’s Top 40 companies within the next decade. “People laughed when we said we’d democratize investing. No one’s laughing now,” Savage says. “We took a R2 million startup and turned it into a R5 billion business. Why can’t we do that again?”He’s quick to note that success hasn’t changed their culture. “You have to stay a startup — dream big, act fast, break things, move on,” he insists. “That’s my DNA. And as long as I’m CEO, we’ll keep that energy.”That energy manifests in relentless experimentation. “People sometimes say, ‘Charles, you keep changing your mind.’ But that’s how innovation works. For every ten ideas, maybe three will scale. That’s a good ratio.” EasyEquities’ biggest hits — EasyCrypto, EasyRetire, and EasyEquities itself — are proof. “We’ve built ten products, three became meaningful businesses. So we’ll keep building the next ten.”Expansion is the next big play. EasyEquities has gone live in Kenya and is preparing to scale in the Philippines through a partnership with GCash, which has access to 100 million potential customers. “Africa will keep us busy for decades,” Savage says. “We go where it’s hard to do business — where competition is low and the impact is high. We’re not taking a pistol to a machine gun fight. Let Robinhood have America. We’ll take the places that need mosquito repellent.”Savage also sees big opportunities in crypto and AI. “Next week, we’ll announce a partnership to launch a South African stablecoin,” he reveals. “Stablecoins are the future of money. One or two will dominate, and we intend to be one of them.”On the AI front, the transformation is already underway. “Sixty percent of our code is now written by AI,” Savage says. “We haven’t retrenched anyone — it just means we’re 60% more efficient. AI helps us build smarter and faster.”The numbers are striking. Over 140,000 customers were served by AI agents in the past year. Internally, AI saved the company R10 million by replacing outsourced services. EasyEquities even launched “AI baskets,” where investors build portfolios through conversations with an AI assistant. “AI will become the operating system of investing,” he says. “It’ll be our Intel Inside.”Looking ahead, Savage envisions a leaner, smarter company. “In ten years, I see us in the Top 40, worth R70 billion, operating across three countries, with ten products each generating a billion rand in revenue,” he says. “And we’ll probably still have around 250 people, because AI will make us that efficient.”But for all the grand ambition, his drive remains deeply human. “The inspiration comes from our customers,” he says. “Every day, someone stops me to say, ‘Charles, you changed my life.’ That’s what keeps me going.”For Savage, South Africa’s turnaround and EasyEquities’ rise are part of the same story. “We’ve had three decades to learn what not to do,” he says. “Now we’re starting to get it right. The flywheel is turning for South Africa, just like it is for us.”And if he’s right, both might just be entering their most exciting decade yet.

Director’s Cut: Masterclass in financial sector disruption from Easy Equities founder Charles Savage

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