Capitec says its fraud prevention technology saved clients R673 million in the 2026 financial year, as criminals targeted digital payments with increasingly sophisticated scams. In its results for the year ended February 2026, the bank said its artificial intelligence-driven fraud systems prevented more than 394,000 scam payments and blocked 131,000 fraudulent beneficiaries in real time.

The bank described the investment as part of a broader push to strengthen client protection as more South Africans move their banking lives online. According to Capitec, digital security tools, client education and AI-led interventions helped reinforce trust as digital adoption continued to grow.

That matters because Capitec is now South Africa’s biggest bank by customer numbers. It said it had more than 25.8 million clients in 2026, up from 24.1 million the year before.

Digital growth is driving tougher security demands

Capitec said more than 15.2 million clients now use its banking app, while over 1.8 million have linked their cards to digital wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, Garmin Pay and Samsung Pay.

Its Capitec Pay platform served 10.4 million unique clients, while more than 1.5 million customers had used Capitec Connect in the last three months. With that kind of scale, the bank said stronger fraud and security technology is no longer optional.

Capitec warned that the financial crime environment is becoming more intense as fraudsters exploit the speed and scale of digital payment systems. To respond, the bank said it uses risk modelling to analyse large volumes of customer data, identify patterns and flag transactions that do not match normal spending behaviour.

AI is also being used beyond banking fraud

The bank said it had expanded fraud prevention work into its insurance business, where it has created a dedicated insurance fraud investigation function. That includes specialised internal resources, targeted investigations into insurance syndicates, selective use of outside experts and new technologies.

Capitec said AI and machine-learning models are also being used to strengthen prevention, detection and investigation outcomes in that part of the business.

The wider AI push goes even further. Capitec said around 5,000 employees now hold active AI licences and that generative AI is being adopted across the organisation. According to the bank, most employees already interact with a Gen AI tool every day.

Strong numbers back Capitec’s digital push

Capitec reported net profit of R16.837 billion for the 2026 financial year, up 22% from R13.75 billion in 2025. It also said Capitec Connect’s subscriber base jumped 67%, rising from 900,000 to 1.5 million users.

The bank said its data price cuts saved clients R330 million over the past year. At the same time, the MVNO business lifted net income to R442 million, up 129% from R193 million in 2025.

Taken together, the results show a bank betting heavily on digital growth, while using AI as both a shield against fraud and a tool to reshape how it works.