Starting a new bank is brutal and brutally complex, says TymeBank co-founder Coen Jonker. And sometimes you need to shuffle your people to get the best out of them, for the best of the business.

TymeBank will hit five million customers by June, its financial year-end.

While this is a happy milestone, bottom-line performance is what drives profitability and leads to a superior return on equity. The young bank is "roughly on target", with break-even anticipated in 2023, but the management team is not coasting - not by a long shot.

This is what is behind the management shuffle, announced recently.

Having the right person in the right job at the right time for the business is essential, says Coen Jonker, co-founder and soon-to-be CEO of the South African bank.

"We feel, culturally, strongly about playing every member of the team to their strengths, for the particular phase the business is in."

For this reason, TymeBank CEO Tauriq Keeran will be redeployed to oversee international expansion.

"He is our most experienced build-and-launch guy - he led the build process in South Africa and we want him to do the same for our third bank, which might be Pakistan."

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