 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | |
| Founded | 2021; 5 years ago (2021) |
| Founder | Michael Jordaan Yatin Narsai[1] |
| Headquarters | Sandton,South Africa[2] |
Area served | South Africa |
Key people | Michael Jordaan (Chairman) Yatin Narsai (CEO)[3] |
| Products | Financial services |
| Owner | Lesaka Technologies |
| Website | bankzero |
Bank Zero is aSouth Africandigitalmutual bank,[4] owned by localfintech companyLesaka Technologies since 2025.[5]
Headquartered inSandton,Gauteng, the bank provides commercial and corporate financial services.[6] Bank Zero registered with theSouth African Reserve Bank in 2018, and launched in 2021.[7][8][9][10]
Bank Zero was co-founded in 2018, by Michael Jordaan and Yatin Narsai.[11] By the end of 2018, after integration with theSouth African Reserve Bank, Bank Zero was a full settlement bank.
In early 2019, Bank Zero integrated into the rest of theSouth African national payments system[12] to become a full clearing bank with an independent licence.[13]
In November 2019, Bank Zero announced a patented debit card, obtained with an agreement withMasterCard, and combined with Bank Zero's in-house, patented security procedures.[14][15] Instead of storing thecard number that is embossed on the card on both themagnetic stripe, and in thecard chip, the debit card would have three different card numbers for each: the embossed number, the magnetic strip, and the card chip.[15]
Doing so would allow Bank Zero to limit specific types of transactions to each card number. For example, the magnetic strip card number could only be used at an ATM and at apoint-of-sale terminal; the card chip card number could only be used at point-of-sale devices; and, the embossed number could only be used foronline transactions.[15] The bank said the new card would dramatically minimize the negative impact ofcard data theft andcard skimming.[15]
While Bank Zero had originally planned tosoft launch some of its products at the end of 2019, the company decided to delay its launch to 2020.[7][8] After disruptions due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, the bank's launch was further delayed, until 2021.[10][16]
In June 2025,Lesaka Technologies (formerly Net1 UEPS Technologies) acquired Bank Zero for R1.091 billion.[17]
The bank is 45% black-owned and 20% female-owned.[18] Instead of outsourcing traditional pre-ready banking packages, Bank Zero relies on a core banking platform.[13]
Bank Zero usesIBM Z mainframe computers andLinuxONE,[19] as a secure platform that can protect against data breaches with IBM'sSecure Service Container.[20]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)Companies based inGreater Johannesburg | |||
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