Absa Bank

This article is about the flagship South African bank. For the eponymous banking conglomerate, see Absa Group. For Other uses, see ABSA.

Absa Bank Limited
FormerlyAmalgamated Banks of South Africa
Company type
Subsidiary
IndustryFinancial services
Founded1986 (1986)
Headquarters7th Floor, Absa Towers West
15 Troye Street, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa 26°12′21″S 28°02′56″E / 26.20585726°S 28.04899148°E / -26.20585726; 28.04899148
Number of locations
630 branches and 5,016 ATMs (2025)[1]
Area served
South Africa
Key people
René van Wyk (Chairman)
Kenny Fihla (CEO)[1]
ProductsChecking accounts
Savings
Investments
Loans
RevenueIncrease R72.32 billion (2025)[2]
Decrease R13.46 billion (2025)[2]
Decrease R11.39 billion (2025)[2]
Total assetsIncrease R1.95 trillion (2025)[2]
Total equityIncrease R139 billion (2025)[2]
Number of employees
26,565 (2025)[1]
ParentAbsa Group Limited
Websiteabsa.co.za

Absa Bank Limited, commonly referred to as Absa and formerly known as the Amalgamated Banks of South Africa, is a major commercial bank in South Africa and the flagship bank of Absa Group. As with all commercial banks, it is licensed by the Reserve Bank of South Africa - the central bank and national banking regulator. Headquartered in Johannesburg, Gauteng, ABSA is publicly-traded, and listed on the JSE Limited.[3]

As of December 2025, Absa operates 630 branches, over 5,000 ATMs, and over 90,000 point of sale systems across South Africa. The company employs over 26,000 people in SA.[1]

History

According to the archives of maintained by Barclays Bank Plc, Amalgamated Banks of South Africa Limited was incorporated in 1986, by "the merger of UBS (United Building Society) Holdings, the Allied and Volkskas Groups, and certain interests of the Sage Group".[4]

In 1992, Absa acquired the entire shareholding of the Bankorp Group, which included TrustBank, Senbank and Bankfin. The name of the bank's holding company was changed to Absa Group Limited in 1997.[4]

In 2005, Barclays acquired a 62.3 percent majority stake in ABSA, and Barclays' existing subsidiary in South Africa and Barclays Capital's business were subsequently operated under the ABSA brand. Twelve other financial subsidiaries in 11 sub-Saharan African countries were made part of the group. Absa Group changed its name to Barclays Africa Group.[4]

In 2016, Barclays Bank Plc, which owned 62.3 percent of Barclays Africa Group (BAG), the then parent company of Absa Bank Limited (the South African subsidiary), decided to divest its majority shareholding in BAG, worth £3.5 billion at that time.[5]

In 2017, Barclays reduced its shareholding in BAG to 14.9 percent. After that, BAG re-branded to Absa Group Limited in 2018. Under the terms of that re-brand, Absa had until June 2020 to change the names of its subsidiaries in 12 African countries.[6]

See also

  • Banking in South Africa
  • List of banks in South Africa

References

  1. ^ a b c d "ABSA Group Integrated Report, 2025" (PDF). ABSA Group. 2025. Retrieved 24 April 2026.
  2. ^ a b c d e "ABSA Bank Limited Annual Financial Statements, 2025" (PDF). ABSA Bank Limited. March 2026. Retrieved 24 April 2026.
  3. ^ Reserve Bank of South Africa (March 2020). "South African Registered Banks and Representative Offices". Pretoria: Reserve Bank of South Africa. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  4. ^ a b c Barclays Archives (2006). "ABSA Group: Amalgamated Banks of South Africa". London: Barclays Archives. Archived from the original on 28 March 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  5. ^ Martin Arnold and Patrick Jenkins (26 February 2016). "Barclays set to exit African business". The Financial Times. London. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  6. ^ "Barclays Africa returns to its SA roots with rebrand". Business Daily Africa. Reuters. 11 July 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
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