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Ubuntu Bank is a fictitious diversified financial services provider incorporated and listed in South Africa, offering a wide variety of products and services covering personal and business banking, credit cards, corporate, and investment banking, wealth and investment management, and short- and long-term insurance. The bank was founded in 1994 by Karabo Rubombora, an influential figure in the South African apartheid struggle, who returned to South Africa in 1991 following an extended period in exile in the United Kingdom, Nigeria, and Tanzania. Upon his return, Karabo quickly realised that South Africa required a truly African bank to assist with its infrastructural and industrial development following its re-entry on to the world stage, and to capitalise on trade with its African neighbours. As a result, Ubuntu Bank was formed and the holding company, Rubombora Holdings, was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in 1995. The retail-banking arm of the organisation is the most profitable sector. There are 56 branches spread across all 9 South African provinces, with many ATMs (including mobile and "cashlimited" sites) and online banking, mobile banking, scan-and-pay, and WhatsApp banking services. The business is composed of five different divisions, each with a specific product offering: 1. YourBank: This is the core retail offering. It caters for the broadest range of clients and offers a wide array of products including credit facilities, savings facilities, home and car finance, and share-trading facilities. 2. YourBank4All: This is a transaction-only offering linked to a local supermarket chain. This is reserved for clients with limited banking needs. Deposits into an account can be done at supermarket checkouts. There is a once-off fee of R2 for opening an account. Deposits are limited to a maximum of R15,000. 3. YourBank Private Wealth: This offering is similar to YourBank, but with products specifically tailored for high-net-worth individuals (income of more than R1.5 million per year) and select professionals (doctors, lawyers, and chartered accountants). 4. YourBank Business: This is a retail bank that caters for the needs of small-to-medium enterprises, or SMEs (annual turnover not exceeding R25 million). 5. YourBank Invest: This is an asset-management division focusing specifically on collective investments and long-term wealth maximisation. 2.1 Wealth and private banking Karabo used his extensive political and business connections to set up YourBank Private Wealth in 2005, and it quickly became the private bank of choice for the political and business elite in South Africa. In 2008, YourBank Private Wealth expanded the business by establishing the Mauritian wealth-management business YourBank Assets. YourBank Assets worked closely with Mauritian trust and company service provider Ebrahim Adams to assist affluent customers with offshore wealth solutions and tax planning. YourBank Private Wealth has experienced solid growth over the past 12 months, with a number of powerful and affluent clients joining the customer base, including the Baloyi family from Limpopo. The Baloyis are known for owning the most successful big-game hunting conglomerate in the SADC region and regularly hosting hunting parties for the likes of the royal families of eSwatini, Thailand, and Myanmar. YourBank Private Wealth is the bank of choice for government institutions and, by implication, senior government officials. Government officials make up approximately 8% of YourBank's individual customer base. Several customers (individuals and legal persons) appear on the Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions list. 2.2 Business banking YourBank is increasingly focusing on expanding its business-banking services to SME clients through the growth of the YourBank Business division. The focus is on financial inclusivity by offering retail banking services to previously unbanked customers in the informal sector, including drivers of commuter taxis, owners of informal sports bars, street traders, and artisans, as well as wholesale retail businesses. 2.3 Microloans and payday loans Since the creation of the YourBank4All product in 2016, there has been a massive uptake of the basic transaction services offered by the bank. The board and executive committee of YourBank have decided to grow the bank's footprint within that client demographic. They have approved the strategy of transferring clients from the YourBank4All to the YourBank division, should the clients wish to have access to microloans (short-term, high-interest credit facilities with a cap of R10,000). The proposal is for the account fees to remain nominal (a R10 monthly fee is being discussed), and for interest to be capped at a maximum of 22.5%, with a maximum value of R2,500. Due to the potential large-scale demand for this product and the migration of clients from the YourBank4All to the YourBank division, it is proposed that the application and transfer be facilitated via an app, using Al solutions. Ubuntu Bank is a fictitious diversified financial services provider incorporated and listed in South Africa, offering a wide variety of products and services covering personal and business banking, credit cards, corporate, and investment banking, wealth and investment management, and short- and long-term insurance. The bank was founded in 1994 by Karabo Rubombora, an influential figure in the South African apartheid struggle, who returned to South Africa in 1991 following an extended period in exile in the United Kingdom, Nigeria, and Tanzania. Upon his return, Karabo quickly realised that South Africa required a truly African bank to assist with its infrastructural and industrial development following its re-entry on to the world stage, and to capitalise on trade with its African neighbours. As a result, Ubuntu Bank was formed and the holding company, Rubombora Holdings, was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in 1995. The retail-banking arm of the organisation is the most profitable sector. There are 56 branches spread across all 9 South African provinces, with many ATMs (including mobile and "cashlimited" sites) and online banking, mobile banking, scan-and-pay, and WhatsApp banking services. The business is composed of five different divisions, each with a specific product offering: 1. YourBank: This is the core retail offering. It caters for the broadest range of clients and offers a wide array of products including credit facilities, savings facilities, home and car finance, and share-trading facilities. 2. YourBank4All: This is a transaction-only offering linked to a local supermarket chain. This is reserved for clients with limited banking needs. Deposits into an account can be done at supermarket checkouts. There is a once-off fee of R2 for opening an account. Deposits are limited to a maximum of R15,000. 3. YourBank Private Wealth: This offering is similar to YourBank, but with products specifically tailored for high-net-worth individuals (income of more than R1.5 million per year) and select professionals (doctors, lawyers, and chartered accountants). 4. YourBank Business: This is a retail bank that caters for the needs of small-to-medium enterprises, or SMEs (annual turnover not exceeding R25 million). 5. YourBank Invest: This is an asset-management division focusing specifically on collective investments and long-term wealth maximisation. 2.1 Wealth and private banking Karabo used his extensive political and business connections to set up YourBank Private Wealth in 2005, and it quickly became the private bank of choice for the political and business elite in South Africa. In 2008, YourBank Private Wealth expanded the business by establishing the Mauritian wealth-management business YourBank Assets. YourBank Assets worked closely with Mauritian trust and company service provider Ebrahim Adams to assist affluent customers with offshore wealth solutions and tax planning. YourBank Private Wealth has experienced solid growth over the past 12 months, with a number of powerful and affluent clients joining the customer base, including the Baloyi family from Limpopo. The Baloyis are known for owning the most successful big-game hunting conglomerate in the SADC region and regularly hosting hunting parties for the likes of the royal families of eSwatini, Thailand, and Myanmar. YourBank Private Wealth is the bank of choice for government institutions and, by implication, senior government officials. Government officials make up approximately 8% of YourBank's individual customer base. Several customers (individuals and legal persons) appear on the Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions list. 2.2 Business banking YourBank is increasingly focusing on expanding its business-banking services to SME clients through the growth of the YourBank Business division. The focus is on financial inclusivity by offering retail banking services to previously unbanked customers in the informal sector, including drivers of commuter taxis, owners of informal sports bars, street traders, and artisans, as well as wholesale retail businesses. 2.3 Microloans and payday loans Since the creation of the YourBank4All product in 2016, there has been a massive uptake of the basic transaction services offered by the bank. The board and executive committee of YourBank have decided to grow the bank's footprint within that client demographic. They have approved the strategy of transferring clients from the YourBank4All to the YourBank division, should the clients wish to have access to microloans (short-term, high-interest credit facilities with a cap of R10,000). The proposal is for the account fees to remain nominal (a R10 monthly fee is being discussed), and for interest to be capped at a maximum of 22.5%, with a maximum value of R2,500. Due to the potential large-scale demand for this product and the migration of clients from the YourBank4All to the YourBank division, it is proposed that the application and transfer be facilitated via an app, using Al solutions

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