Reading Time: 3 minutes

Big Bucks For the Big Banks

You will never believe just how much money the big South African banks make in profit every single day.

It is said that around 85% of South Africans have some sort of bank account and the big banks like Standard Bank, FirstRand, Absa, Nedbank, and Capitec (along with other fast growing banks like TymeBank and BankZero) are raking in the profits by offering all these consumers credit and insurance.

But just how much exactly are we talking about?

Daily and Monthly Profits

The daily profits of the top South African banks are astounding and hard to wrap your head around.

For example:

Standard Bank tops the list, earning:

R136 million per day.

FirstRand follows with a daily profit of:

R131 million per day.

Absa makes:

R104 million daily.

Nedbank earns:

R73 million per day.

Capitec, despite lagging behind some of the others, earns a decent:

R60 million each day.

Those are some pretty big numbers right? They are kind of hard to wrap your head around.

Think of it this way, if you are earning a “middle class” salary of R15 000 a month this means that it would take you about 333 years or 4000 months’ salary to earn what Capitec Bank make in profit in one day.

Still hard to wrap your head around?

‘it would take you 5 lifetimes to earn (and not spend) what they make each day’

Well, if you take an “average” person’s working life span then it would take you 5 lifetimes to earn (and not spend) what they make each day. Pretty impressive right?

When these average daily profits are multiplied over a typical 30 day month, the figures become even more ridiculous.

Standard Bank’s monthly profit adds up to:

R4.08 billion per month.

FirstRand’s monthly profit amounts to:

R3.93 billion per month.

Absa’s monthly profit is:

R3.12 billion per month.

Nedbank’s monthly profit totals:

R2.19 billion per month.

Capitec’s monthly profit is:

R1.8 billion per month.

These figures just highlight the immense financial strength of South Africa’s major banks, who are making billions of rands in profit every month. No wonder legislation was put in place by Government to help protect the rights of the individual when dealing with these massive organisations.

Things like the National Credit Act have helped balance some of the rights of these massive banks with the lone consumer.

But…How?

You may wonder how the banks can make so much money every single day?

Well, several factors contribute to these enormous profits.

The big banks offer a wide range of financial services, including retail banking, corporate banking, investment services, and insurance.  They don’t just make profit off account fees and interest on your debts. They also slash costs by using smart technology and invest in various things themselves.

South Africa’s big banks are incredibly profitable considering the amount of clients they have and the socio economic factors at play in SA. By being smart and figuring out profitable strategies they are really coining it every single month.