TymeBank Partners With Alex Youth Development Project
TymeBank Partners With Alex Youth Development Project. TymeBank has announced a partnership with Ikusasalethu Youth Development Project (IYDP) that will see the bank providing business banking services to graduates of the NPO’s skills development programme, many of whom have overcome immense hardship.
The announcement was made at an event to celebrate the 180 aspiring entrepreneurs who recently graduated from IYDP’s skills development programme and are ready to start their own small businesses. The venue was the NPO’s Business Incubation Hub in Alexandra, which provides mentorship programmes and support in creating business plans and company profiles, company registrations and coaching.
The programme graduates will be starting their businesses in various fields, including landscaping, construction, pest control, nail technology and graphic design. As part of their business start-up kits, the graduates will open TymeBank business accounts and consequently gain access to the full range of services that form part of TymeBank’s Business Banking offering.
Cheslyn Jacobs, Chief Commercial Director at TymeBank, commented: “These young people have already shown great determination and commitment by going through IYDP’s skills development programme and we believe our TymeBank business banking products and services can greatly enable their start-up businesses and contribute to them realising their full potential. Given the nature of many of their businesses, a notable benefit for these aspiring business owners will be access to our point-of-sale solution, TymePOS, an app that turns any NFCenabled cell phone into a tap-and-go payment device for card payments. This means they will be able to accept cashless payments from customers wherever they are and because we offer next-day settlement, they will be better enabled from a cashflow perspective.”
IYPD Chairperson Constance Lulama Benesh said: “This programme gives me hope about the future of our youth. We have set out to create a better future for unemployed youth through the promotion of sustainable job creation and enterprise development. By mentoring and supporting young entrepreneurs, we are doing our part to respond to issues of youth development, poverty alleviation and creating sustainable solutions to combat unemployment. We have created a solid partnership with the Department of Social Development, TymeBank and others, which is vital as Ikusasalethu Youth Development Project cannot achieve this alone. This is a collective effort that sets the tone for the change that we all want to see.”
“This partnership aligns with TymeBank’s commitment to empower entrepreneurs while promoting employment and financial inclusion in the communities in which we operate,” said Jacobs. Weeks ago, TymeBank launched a pilot project which saw ten spaza shop owners in Daveyton receive mobile phones enabled with TymePOS. The project was in partnership with Khona La Local Stores, an initiative aimed at rebranding and reviving township retail shops.
