Pep Bank, a low-cost alternative to the big banks, is to open 75 new branches this year.
A division of BoE Bank, Pep Bank opened its first branch in Paarl in the Cape in November 1999 and is now opening at least two branches a week.
The bank offers savings accounts linked to an ATM card and personal loans. Charges are lower than at the big banks.
For example, for six ATM cash withdrawals at one of the big banks, the charges would be at least R21.
At Pep Bank, the same number of withdrawals would cost less than R10.
The fee for a cash withdrawal at Pep Bank is R1.60 irrespective of the amount that you draw.
If you have an E-Plan Account from Standard Bank you are charged R3.50 for every withdrawal from a Standard Bank ATM.
At Absa, you are charged R2.20 for the first R100 and R0.77 for every R100 after that. So a R250 withdrawal from a savings account would cost you R3.74.
As a Pep Bank customer you can use your ATM card at any Pep Bank, NBS or BoE branch at no extra cost. You can also use any Saswitch ATM at the normal Saswitch transaction fee.
Pep bank aims to develop a national network of 300 branches with over a million new customers by the end of 2002.
If these targets are met, the bank will have reached almost 25 percent of those people who are currently earning an income but who do not have a bank account.
Herman Engelbrecht, general manager at Pep Bank, says plans are underway to open a further 75 branches this year.
Over 17 million people, or more than 60 percent of adult South Africans, do not have any form of bank account and, of those, approximately 24 percent are earning a regular income or are formally employed.
Engelbrecht says one of the main reasons for these alarming statistics is high bank charges, which stop people opening an accounts, and intimidating and unwelcoming banking halls.
"The big banks in South Africa have been unable to appeal to this market - a market that's crying out for affordable, accessible banking," he says.
This week, a new Pep Bank branch opened in Oudtshoorn and another in Bellville, bringing the total number of branches in the Western Cape to 33.
* Meanwhile the South African Communist Party, which launched a campaign calling for transformation of the financial services sector in October last year, is calling on South African banks to take immediate steps to transform their practices in favour of workers and the poor.
Among the steps proposed, the SACP wants exemptions from all bank charges for people who receive state welfare grants.