20Twenty was an online South African retail bank that specialised in no frills digital banking. It focused on offering low transaction costs with low interest rates on loans whilst offering higher interest rates on savings. By the time of its closure in 2006 it had an estimated client base of 20,000 to 40,000 account holders. The bank was known for its customer service and loyal client base.

History

It was founded in July 2001 by South African internet entrepreneur Christo Davel. Due to the length of time and complicated bureaucratic process of setting up a bank in South Africa the company entered into a partnership with existing South African bank Saambou to use their

banking license A banking licence is a legal prerequisite for a financial institution that wants to carry on a banking business. Under the laws of most jurisdictions, a business is not permitted to carry words like a ''bank'', ''insurance'', ''national'' in th ...

. In the agreement Saambou obtained a 65% share in the company. It initially only offered customers a single account that was a combined current account and savings account and issued a single Master-Card that functioned as a credit and debit card. Shortly after the bank's launch its parent bank Saambou collapsed in 2002 resulting in the freezing of 20Twenty accounts. After 18 months of negotiations 20Twenty was sold to

Standard Chartered Standard Chartered plc is a multinational bank with operations in consumer, corporate and institutional banking, and treasury services. Despite being headquartered in the United Kingdom, it does not conduct retail banking in the UK, and around 9 ...

for US$10 million (R61 million) in August 2003. In November 2005 Standard Chartered put the bank up for sale. Two months later in January 2006 Standard Charted announced that it would be closing 20Twenty after failing to find a buyer.

References

Banks of South Africa Banks established in 2001 2006 disestablishments in South Africa Companies based in Cape Town South African brands South African companies established in 2001 {{Africa-bank-stub