--- title: "South Africa’s unlikely telecoms giant" url: https://daily.dev/posts/south-africa-s-unlikely-telecoms-giant-yclkb9bv1 source_url: https://techcentral.co.za/south-africas-unlikely-telecoms-giant/281808 type: article source: "TechCentral" published: 2026-05-26T06:20:13.308Z updated: 2026-05-26T06:20:36.317Z tags: ["fintech"] reading_time: 3 upvotes: 0 comments: 0 language: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # South Africa’s unlikely telecoms giant **[TechCentral](https://daily.dev/sources/techcentral)** · 3 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Pepkor Holdings has shifted its cellular business model from outright handset sales to smartphone financing via its FoneYam rental product. FoneYam's rental book grew 53% year-on-year to R2.6-billion, with 2.4 million active customers and 1.3 million new accounts activated in the six months to March 2026. Overall handset unit sales remained flat at ~6.7 million. The financial services segment, which includes FoneYam, Capfin, Abacus insurance, and the prospective PlusB bank, grew revenue 41.6% to R3-billion with operating profit up 63.4%. Pepkor's active SIM base exceeds 30 million, generating R1.1-billion in recurring revenue. The company has also filed its final regulatory application to become a registered bank through PlusB. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [New details emerge about Pepkor’s bank launch plans](https://daily.dev/posts/new-details-emerge-about-pepkor-s-bank-launch-plans-wocewrmym) · TechCentral · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [The retailer that is about to become your bank](https://daily.dev/posts/the-retailer-that-is-about-to-become-your-bank-cwt7canct) · TechCentral · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [MVNOs are doing the heavy lifting at Cell C](https://daily.dev/posts/mvnos-are-doing-the-heavy-lifting-at-cell-c-sraufcj3r) · TechCentral · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Fintech fires up Vodacom’s half-year results](https://daily.dev/posts/fintech-fires-up-vodacom-s-half-year-results-nmmumuzgc) · TechCentral · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Vodacom’s fintech machine tops 100 million customers](https://daily.dev/posts/vodacom-s-fintech-machine-tops-100-million-customers-ej6rvopdd) · TechCentral · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#fintech](https://daily.dev/tags/fintech) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/south-africa-s-unlikely-telecoms-giant-yclkb9bv1)