War of words: TymeBank CEO slams 6,500% ID fee hike, Minister Schreiber labels ‘state capture instinct’

Key topics:Tyme CEO says R10 ID fee hike hurts inclusionSchreiber defends hike, slams “state capture instinct” claimConflict reveals deeper tensions over reform and affordability.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.The auditorium doors will open for BNIC#2 on 10 September 2025 in Hermanus. For more information and tickets, click here..By Kerry Lanaghan .Listen to this story instead:.According to a report by MoneyWeb, Tyme Group CEO Coenraad Jonker has urgently called on the Department of Home Affairs to halt a planned 6,500% increase in identity verification fees. While Home Affairs argues that the hike is necessary to fund essential system upgrades, citing that the current system experiences frequent downtime, Tyme argues the move will disproportionately harm South Africa’s poorest citizens. Jonker warns that the abrupt fee hike will force banks to raise costs for low-income clients or absorb the expense themselves, ultimately threatening their ability to serve vulnerable communities. Farewelling financial inclusion for digital transformation, Jonker highlighted that the new R10 per lookup fee far exceeds international norms and risks taxing the poor. His proposal advocates a gradual, tiered pricing model with volume-based discounts to maintain affordability and financial access for the underbanked.Meanwhile, News24 reports that Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber has criticised Jonker’s stance, accusing him of harbouring a “state capture instinct” that prioritises corporate profit and undermines state initiatives. Schreiber insists the fee adjustment is vital to address corruption and inefficiencies within Home Affairs. By linking Tyme’s resistance to profit-driven motives, he underscores the importance of sustained investment in digital infrastructure.This escalating conflict highlights a deeper tension in South Africa’s financial and bureaucratic landscape. On one side, private fintech innovators argue that maintaining low-cost access to essential services like ID verification is critical for sustaining financial inclusion and bridging inequality. On the other hand, government reformers contend that only robust investment, funded by fee increases, can modernise services plagued by downtime, fraud, and corruption.Jonker’s advocacy is grounded in concrete consequences: a potential shift of digital banks away from serving low-income clients or the introduction of monthly banking fees to recoup additional verification costs. He warns such changes would erode trust in the sector and roll back years of progress in offering no-fee banking to the financially vulnerable.Schreiber, however, argues that runaway banking models and unregulated fee structures must be reined in. He views the hike as both a pragmatic and symbolic step toward institutional reform, signalling that taxpayers can no longer subsidise outdated systems alone. In his eyes, private sector pressure against fee increases reflects a reluctance to contribute to equitable national infrastructure upgrades.A critical juncture for South Africa’s digital economy lies between these competing narratives. If Home Affairs upgrades succeed without stifling inclusion, they could modernise access and reduce corruption. Yet if costs become prohibitive, the poorest - those least able to pay - may be excluded from formal financial services altogether.With implementation reportedly set for 1 July, time is running out. Tyme’s leadership has proposed open dialogue and phased adjustments with volume discounts, urging Home Affairs to publish a detailed breakdown of how additional funds will be allocated toward system improvements.Further complicating matters is the broader discourse around state capture, corporate accountability, and the role of finance in systemic transformation. The stakes transcend Tyme and Home Affairs: they reflect how digital governance should balance innovation, accessibility, and public interest.For now, the spotlight remains on Minister Schreiber. Will he yield to arguments for affordability and gradual reform? Or will he signal that systemic resilience takes precedence, even if that means pushing poorer citizens to the margins of digital banking?As rhetoric intensifies - spanning corporate boardrooms to parliamentary floors - no one denies the imperative: South Africa must upgrade its Home Affairs systems. The debate centres on how to do it, without undermining the very citizens reform is meant to serve.

War of words: TymeBank CEO slams 6,500% ID fee hike, Minister Schreiber labels ‘state capture instinct’

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