Best banking apps in South Africa

Discovery Bank, FNB, Standard Bank, and Absa have the best banking apps in South Africa, according to reviews from iOS and Android users.

MyBroadband compared South African banking apps based on their Google Play and Apple App Store user ratings.

Major South African banks invest heavily in their smartphone apps to ensure the best possible experience for their users.

There were some differences between the two app stores, with Discovery Bank taking the top spot on iOS and third for Android users.

Similarly, Standard Bank is the best-rated banking app on Android, while it took third place among iOS users.

FNB is the best-rated banking app on average across both platforms. It is also the most-reviewed banking app in South Africa, with a score of 4.8 out of five across more than half a million reviews.

In comparison, Discovery Bank received 4.8 out of five on the Apple App Store and 4.7 on the Google Play Store, giving it an average of 4.75 out of five.

However, it has 147,000 reviews across both app stores — far less than FNB.

Similarly, Standard Bank also has an average rating of 4.75 out of five across 269,000 reviews.

The Absa banking app is also well-rated by iOS and Android users, receiving a rating of 4.7 out of five stores on both platforms.

Capitec is the worst-rated banking app on iOS, with 3,300 iOS users rating it 2.5 out of five.

There are significantly more Capitec customers on Android, with 109,000 of them giving it a rating of 4.2 out of five.

Interestingly, Nedbank is rated higher than Bank Zero and TymeBank on the Apple App Store. However, it ranks below the digital banks on Google Play.

53,000 iOS users rated Nedbank 4.6 out of five, while 69,500 Android reviewers gave it a score of 4.2 out of five.

Bank Zero scored an average of 4.25 out of five on both platforms across slightly over 2,500 reviews.

TymeBank appears to be substantially more popular than Bank Zero, with 2,300 iOS and 72,600 Android users scoring it 3.5 and 4.3 out of five, respectively.

The digital bank received over 3,000 more reviews than Nedbank on the Google Play Store.

However, the Nedbank rating on iOS comes from 53,000 reviews, compared to 2,300 for TymeBank.

African Bank and Investec are the worst-rated banking apps on Android, with scores of 3.3 and 3.2 out of five, respectively.

African Bank scored even lower on the Apple App Store. However, not low enough to remove Capitec from the bottom spot.

The Investec Private Client app has a rating of 3.5 out of five on the Apple App Store, putting it on par with TymeBank.

However, its rating comes from far fewer reviews at only 334.

The tables below compare app review ratings for prominent South African banking apps for iOS and Android devices.