Postbank, a business unit of the South African Post Office, may be transformed into a separate company within three years and be listed on the stock exchange, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Business Day reported that Postbank would be a public company owned by the government and given a banking licence.
”This possibility could be considered depending on the mandate Postbank receives from government,” the newspaper said.
The newspaper added that depositors’ funds at Postbank have more than doubled from R1,2-billion to nearly R2,9-billion during the past six years, and it says it has 4,6-million customers.
Lungile Lose, South African Post Office spokesperson, told the newspaper the restructuring of Postbank was part of a government mandate to improve efficiency as a key revenue driver for the post office.
Postbank would eventually operate as a fully fledged bank competing with the big four retail banks — Absa, Standard Bank, Nedbank and FirstRand. — Reuters