South Africa
activeNeobank
- HQ
- Sandton
- Fee
- Low / free core pitch — confirm live
Mama Money
South African remittance and wallet. SARB-supervised payments. Not a SARB bank. Not CODI.
Tap a star to jump to reviews
6.6Mixed
AlternativesFive questions
At a glance
Is it a bank?
No. Mama Money is not a bank. Your money sits with Card / wallet rails via partners — Mama Money is not a bank.
If it fails?
Not CODI. CODI covers eligible deposits at SARB-licensed banks (Bank Zero on this desk). Mama Money wallet balances are payments float, not a bank deposit.
Salary?
Not listed. An IBAN or sort code is not automatically a salary account.
Open from abroad?
Residency and KYC are gated. An App Store listing is not proof you can onboard.
Monthly fee
Card account R29/mo on 2026 published schedule — confirm live
Account number
No IBAN-class local rail on this file.
NeoBankDB Verdict
Licence first · score second
6.6
/10 · Mixed
Mama Money is a Cape Town remittance app. SARB-supervised payments, not a licensed bank. CODI does not follow. Bank Zero is the SARB mutual bank on this desk. The Mama Card is a spend skin with a published R29 monthly fee on 2026 copy. Use it to send. Keep rand salary at a member bank.
What it is
Founded 2015. Play copy still says ‘licensed and regulated by the South African Reserve Bank’ — that is the payments perimeter, not a bank charter. Directories flatten it into TymeBank. Different objects.
Best for: People in South Africa sending money home who already keep salary at a CODI bank.
Last checked 2026-08-30. Not advice.
What it does well
- +SARB-supervised remittance
- +Passport / asylum onboarding
- +Corridor breadth
- +Honest that the job is send-and-spend
What to watch
- −Not a bank
- −Not CODI
- −R29 card fee on the 2026 blog schedule
- −Directories say neobank
Who holds the money
The account
How money actually moves
- Who holds the cash
- E-money / stored-value — not a bank deposit
- How money moves
- In-app ledger
- Built for
- Personal · Travel
- Settlement
- App-ledger instant; bank rails per corridor
- Freeze risk
- Fintech reviews can pause inbound while they check a transfer
- Card
- Mama Money lists a physical card and a virtual card on visa, plus Google Pay. Confirm the live product in the app — a card is not a current account.
Licence first
Safety
Not CODI. CODI covers eligible deposits at SARB-licensed banks (Bank Zero on this desk). Mama Money wallet balances are payments float, not a bank deposit.
Who holds the money: Card / wallet rails via partners — Mama Money is not a bank
- South African Reserve BankRemittance / payments fintech. Not a licensed bank. Not CODI · South Africa
Fees
- Monthly
- Card account R29/mo on 2026 published schedule — confirm live
- FX markup
- Remittance spread is the product
- ATM
- Card schedule
Features
- –IBAN
- –Fee-free core
- –Multi-currency
- –Apple Pay
- ✓Google Pay
- ✓Virtual card
- ✓Physical card
- –Metal card
- –Crypto
- –Stocks
- –Business
- –Kids
- –Halal
- ZAR remittance to 90+ countries
- Wallet + card
- USD save pitch
- SARB payments perimeter
- Not a bank
Score
- Safety25%
- 4.8
- Fees20%
- 6.4
- Features15%
- 7.4
- App15%
- 7.8
- Global15%
- 7.6
- Support10%
- 6.6
Change log
Full logLicence
SARB remittance / wallet — not a bank, not CODI
Cape Town corridors. R29 card fee on 2026 published schedule. Keep salary at a SARB bank.
Available in
Straight answers
FAQ
01Is Mama Money a bank?
Mama Money is not a licensed deposit-taker in the classic sense. Money, if any, sits with Card / wallet rails via partners — Mama Money is not a bank.
02How is money protected?
Not CODI. CODI covers eligible deposits at SARB-licensed banks (Bank Zero on this desk). Mama Money wallet balances are payments float, not a bank deposit.
03Where is Mama Money available?
We list 1 market on NeoBankDB. Residency and onboarding rules still sit with Mama Money.
04Card and wallets?
Mama Money lists a physical card and a virtual card on visa, plus Google Pay. Confirm the live product in the app — a card is not a current account.
05Can I open Mama Money remotely?
Residency and KYC are gated. An App Store listing is not proof you can onboard from your country.
Ratings and reviews
No published user reviews yet. The NeoBankDB score still comes from licence, fees, and the product — not from an empty star average.
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