Book of the Week: 'It's About Tyme: Banking Beyond Borders' by Bruce Whitfield and Adrian Saville

Bruce Whitfield and Adrian Saville have released a new book called It's About Tyme: Banking Beyond Borders, which traces the remarkable rise of one of South Africa’s most successful fintech exports - TymeBank.

The book charts how the digital-only bank grew from a classroom idea in 2000, into a multinational player with millions of customers in South Africa, the Philippines and Indonesia.

Whitfield describes Tyme as a story of “guts, grit and determination”, a homegrown business that survived multiple near-failures to become one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential companies of 2025.

"It is a story of sheer guts and glory and grit and determination and relentlessness of building – not only in South Africa but then taking this extraordinary decision to say, where should we go next? I know, let's leapfrog six time zones and let's go to the Philippines.

"What they've sought to prove and have proven so far to date is that you can create a business model which is transportable across borders. In South Africa now, they've got 12 million customers.

"This is a business that could have failed. It's a business that has emerged from near failure, stronger, better, smarter, nimbler than before.

"We just look at the state of South Africa and the state of water supply and the state of the mess and the police and all of these other issues that we face on a regular basis, and you go, it's brilliant that people are still building great businesses in South Africa, and bringing hope to millions of people who previously couldn't get a bank account and are now being brought into the financial system for the first time."

Whitfield says the book offers vital lessons on leadership, resilience, and innovation.

To listen to Bruce Whitfield in conversation with 702 and CapeTalk's Mandy Wiener, click the audio below: