Spot Money
The logo of Spot Money | |
| Company type | Limited company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Banking |
| Predecessor | Virgin Money South Africa |
| Founded | 2006 in South Africa |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | South Africa |
Key people | Andre Hugo (CEO) |
| Website | spotmoney |
Spot Money is a South African mobile banking company, that provides bank accounts, debit and credit cards using an app. The Spot app is operated in association with Bidvest Bank.[1]
History
The company launched as Virgin Money South Africa in 2006, as a partnership between Virgin Group (owners of the Virgin Money brand) and Absa, as an issuer of credit cards.[2] The 50-50 joint venture was worth R240 million at the time of launch.[3] By 2013 Virgin Money's customers had R1 billion in total credit.[4] Virgin Money SA launched their Spot app cashless platform in February 2018.[5] As of July 2019 the Spot app had 400,000 users.[6]
Following the discontinuation of the Virgin Money South Africa credit card,[7] the company and app was acquired by its management and a local private equity company,[8] and renamed Spot Money.[9] The 118,000 former credit card customers, with R750 million in total credit, were transferred to Absa's own credit card offering.[5]
2026 Service Disruption
On 1 March 2026 at approximately 18:00, Spot Money reported a service disruption affecting transactions across its platform. The company stated that the incident impacted certain payment and card services, resulting in failed or delayed transactions for some users. As of 3 March 2026, the disruption was still ongoing while technical teams investigated the issue and worked to restore normal service.[10]
References
- ^ "Spot Help Center". help.spotmoney.com. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ "Absa brings Virgin Money to SA". Fin24. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ "Virgin Money takes off in SA". www.iol.co.za. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ "Virgin Money eyes retail banking in South Africa". BusinessLIVE. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ a b "Richard Branson's Virgin Money is shutting down its SA credit card". BusinessInsider. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ "Virgin Money Spot is taking on Snapscan in South Africa - and it already has 400,000 users". BusinessInsider. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ "Absa launches digital bank Spot Money in South Africa". FinTech Futures. 2 February 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ Doyle, Kirsten (27 January 2021). "Spot Money debuts open banking offering in SA". ITWeb. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ "We've Changed Our Name". Virgin Money. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ "Service Update: Ongoing Transaction Disruption". Spot Money. Spot Money. 1 March 2026. Archived from the original on 6 March 2026. Retrieved 7 March 2026.