Capitec vs FNB business account: fees and who wins (2026)

Short answer: if you are a sole proprietor who takes card and EFT payments and rarely touches cash, FNB First Business Zero costs less, because its monthly fee is R0. If you run a registered company, deposit cash, or want one flat price with no bundle to think about, Capitec Business at R50 a month is simpler and usually cheaper than FNB's pay-as-you-use Gold account. Once your cash deposits pass about R15,000 a month, FNB's R349 single-fee bundle starts to beat both.

Every number below comes from the two banks' own published fee sheets: Capitec's business fees valid from 1 March 2026 and FNB's Business Annual Pricing Guide for 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027. Fees include VAT unless the bank says otherwise. Both banks change prices once a year, so check the guide before you sign.

This post is the head-to-head. If you want the whole market in one place, including Standard Bank, Absa, Nedbank and the app-only banks, read our guide to choosing a business bank account in South Africa.

Why these two banks

FNB and Capitec are where most new South African businesses end up. FirstRand's results for the 2026 financial year put FNB's commercial client base at 1.38 million, of which 1.2 million are small and medium businesses, as reported by Daily Investor on 5 October 2026. Capitec relaunched its business banking in 2023 and had 686,000 business clients by its September 2026 interim results, sitting on top of a personal base of 26.6 million. FNB has the head start. Capitec has the bigger pool of people who already bank with it.

They also sell different things. FNB sells a ladder: First Business Zero for sole proprietors, Gold Business for companies up to R5 million turnover, Platinum above that. Capitec sells one business account for any registered company, plus an Entrepreneur Account for people trading in their own name without a company. That difference shapes almost every fee comparison below.

The accounts side by side

Three accounts matter for a small business. The fourth, FNB Platinum Business, is for turnover above R5 million and is out of scope here.

Capitec Business Banking Account. R50 a month. You must keep R150 in the account. Open to companies registered at the CIPC (the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission, which keeps the company register), with a separate application path for trusts and partnerships. You open it yourself in the app. Branches cannot open it for you; support is by phone through Capitec's Relationship Suite.
Capitec Entrepreneur Account. No extra monthly fee. It hangs off your personal Capitec account and uses personal-banking transaction fees, so it is for sole proprietors and side hustles that have not registered a company. You transfer R30 into it from your personal account to start using it.
FNB First Business Zero. R0 a month. Sole proprietors only, with annual turnover from R0 to R1 million, who do most of their banking digitally. Note that the turnover cap is R1 million in the 2026 guide. Older write-ups still say R5 million.
FNB Gold Business. For businesses with turnover up to R5 million. Four prices: Gold Business Aspire at R49 a month (pay-as-you-use, for turnover under R100,000, auto-upgraded when you pass it), the Gold Business Bundle at R102, and two single-fee bundles at R349 and R469 that include a set number of transactions.

Monthly fee: R0, R49, R50 or R102?

The headline fee tells you less than it seems. First Business Zero is genuinely free to hold, but you pay per transaction. Capitec's R50 is close to FNB Gold Aspire's R49, and the two accounts then diverge on what each transaction costs. The single-fee FNB bundles look expensive until you count what they include.

One trap on both sides. FNB charges an inactivity fee of R5 a month after six months without transactions on First Business Zero. Capitec needs the R150 minimum balance to keep the business account open. Neither is large, but both catch dormant accounts.

Transaction fees, line by line

Here is what each everyday transaction costs on Capitec Business, FNB First Business Zero and FNB Gold Aspire. The single-fee bundles are covered in the next section.

Card purchases. Capitec: free on any South African card machine. FNB First Business Zero: no charge. FNB Gold Aspire: R4 per purchase.
EFT to another bank (an electronic funds transfer, the ordinary online payment). Capitec: R2, or R1 to another Capitec account. FNB First Business Zero: R2. FNB Gold Aspire: R5 per payment.
Immediate payment. Capitec: R6. FNB: R3 by PayShap for amounts up to R50,000 (PayShap is the banks' shared instant-payment rail), R6 by Pay2Card, and R8 by RTC (real-time clearing) on First Business Zero, rising to R15 above R3,000 on Gold.
Debit orders you pay. Capitec: R3. FNB First Business Zero: R4 for an external debit order, free if the collector is FNB, WesBank or DirectAxis. FNB Gold Aspire: R12 for an external debit order.
SARS payment. Capitec lists a specific R6 fee for a SARS eFiling payment. FNB charges its normal payment fee.
SMS notifications. Capitec: R0.35 each, email free. FNB: no charge for email and SMS.
Replacing a card. Capitec: R150 for a replacement, R100 for standard delivery of a new card. FNB: R140 for a non-personalised replacement, R150 personalised. Standard delivery is free, R70 to collect at a branch.

On the everyday items Capitec and First Business Zero are within a rand or two of each other, and First Business Zero has the R0 monthly fee. Gold Aspire is the outlier. At R4 a swipe and R12 a debit order it is the dearest of the three for a business that does more than a handful of transactions a month, which is why FNB auto-upgrades you to the bundle once turnover passes R100,000.

Cash: where the gap opens

If your business takes cash, this is the section that decides it.

Depositing cash at an ATM. Capitec: R1.40 per R100 at a Capitec ATM, so R14 per R1,000. FNB (both accounts): R5.50 per deposit plus R1.40 per R100 at an FNB ATM, so R19.50 for a single R1,000 deposit. The same R1.40 rate, but FNB adds a R5.50 flat charge every time you deposit.
Withdrawing cash at an ATM. Capitec: R10 per R1,000 at any South African bank's ATM. FNB: R2.71 per R100 at an FNB ATM, so R27.10 per R1,000. Capitec is less than half the price.
Cash at a till. Capitec: R2 per withdrawal at a supermarket till. FNB Cash@Till: R3.
Cash in a branch. FNB charges R4.68 per R100 for branch deposits and withdrawals, with a minimum of R67. Capitec's business fee sheet lists ATM deposits and its cash-collection service only, so plan on the ATM.

FNB's answer to this is the single-fee bundle. The R349 option covers cash deposits up to R50,000 a month at an FNB ATM at no extra charge, three free ATM withdrawals, free Cash@Till withdrawals, and 65 free transactions a month shared between card purchases, EFTs and external debit orders. The R469 option lifts that to R100,000 in deposits, four withdrawals and 115 shared transactions. Go over the 65 and each extra card purchase is R4, each EFT R8 and each debit order R12. The cheaper R102 Business Bundle works the same way with only 10 shared transactions, so a trading business outgrows it fast.

What a month actually costs: two worked examples

A freelance designer, trading in her own name. 15 card purchases, 8 EFTs to suppliers, 3 debit orders, no cash.

FNB First Business Zero: R0 monthly, R0 for cards, R16 for EFTs, R12 for debit orders. Total R28.
Capitec Business (if she had registered a company): R50 monthly, R0 for cards, R16 for EFTs, R9 for debit orders. Total R75.
Capitec Entrepreneur Account: no business monthly fee, but personal transaction fees apply on top of her personal account. Roughly the same transaction total as Capitec Business without the R50.

For her, First Business Zero wins, and it is not close.

A hardware shop registered as a (Pty) Ltd. 40 card purchases, 20 EFTs to other banks, 5 debit orders, R30,000 in cash deposited over four trips to the ATM, two cash withdrawals of R2,000.

Capitec Business: R50 monthly, R0 for cards, R40 for EFTs, R15 for debit orders, R420 for deposits, R40 for withdrawals. Total R565.
FNB Gold Aspire (pay-as-you-use): R49 monthly, R160 for cards, R100 for EFTs, R60 for debit orders, R442 for deposits (four lots of R5.50 plus R1.40 per R100), R108 for withdrawals. Total about R919.
FNB Gold single-fee bundle at R349: the 40 card purchases, 20 EFTs and 5 debit orders add up to 65, exactly the bundle's shared allowance, and the deposits and withdrawals are inside the limits too. Total R349.

So the shop pays least on FNB's R349 bundle, then Capitec, and FNB's pay-as-you-use option costs more than two and a half times the bundle. Drop the cash deposits to R10,000 and Capitec falls to R285 while the FNB bundle stays at R349. For this shop the crossover sits around R15,000 of cash a month. Below it, Capitec. Above it, the FNB bundle. One more transaction a month and the shop starts paying FNB's over-limit fees, so count your transactions before you trust the bundle.

Card machines

Both banks sell their own card machines and settle takings into your business account.

Capitec. The Pro card machine sells for R699 once-off on Capitec's merchant sign-up page, with commission of 1.85% on local debit and credit cards for monthly card sales up to R50,000. Local debit drops to 0.85% once sales pass R50,000 a month, and Capitec adjusts the rate after three months at the higher level. International cards are 2.3%. Commission excludes VAT.
FNB. The Speedpoint Go sells for R699 or rents for R230 a month, the Speedpoint Pro for R1,499 or R320 a month. Commission for an FNB-banked business with turnover under R500,000 is 1.80% on local debit and credit, and 2.50% on foreign cards, per the merchant pricing in the FNB guide effective 1 March 2026. The rate falls to 0.85% on debit above R500,000. Rental and commission exclude VAT.

On price the two are almost identical. The practical difference is who settles faster into which account, and that the FNB device integrates with FNB's free invoicing and accounting tools. Compare on the bank you have already chosen, not the other way round.

Credit, tools and the things that are not fees

Borrowing. FNB has been lending to small businesses for longer and offers overdrafts, business loans and a cash advance on card turnover from inside the app. Capitec Business has an overdraft too, with a R69 monthly service fee while it is active. Capitec's newer product is inflow-based credit on the Entrepreneur Account, where the limit follows what lands in the account from card sales and invoices rather than a formal application pack. Capitec's own marketing, including a sponsored write-up on News24 from April 2026, puts the ceiling at R500,000, and I could not find the qualifying rules on a product page. If you expect to want an overdraft within a year, FNB's longer track record with business credit is a real reason to pick it.

Free tools. FNB bundles its Instant Solutions (accounting, invoicing, cash flow and payroll tools) and the Fundaba business-education course into both accounts, plus eBucks for Business on Gold. Capitec gives you a banker to phone and a simpler app. If you plan to run your books inside the bank app, FNB has more to offer. If you run your books elsewhere, this matters less.

Phone perks. FNB gives unlimited WhatsApp messaging and 35 voice minutes a month on an FNB Connect SIM, one SIM on First Business Zero and up to two on Gold, but only to sole proprietors and single-member companies. Capitec's reward is its lower cash fees.

What you need to open either account

Both banks apply FICA (the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, the identity rules that every bank must follow before it opens an account). The Financial Intelligence Centre sets the rules; the banks decide the paperwork.

For a sole proprietor on First Business Zero, FNB asks for your ID, proof of address under three months old, a recent payslip and three months of bank statements, and you must be a permanent resident. The Capitec Entrepreneur Account needs an active Capitec personal account, which is already FICA'd, so you open it in the app with no new paperwork.

For a registered company on Capitec Business or FNB Gold Business you need the CIPC pack: the CoR14.3 registration certificate, the Memorandum of Incorporation, every director's ID and proof of address, and the company's beneficial ownership details, which FICA requires the bank to collect for anyone holding 25% or more. Capitec opens the business account from inside its app under "For my business". FNB starts the Gold application online, then checks the company's pack before it activates the account, and that is where a banker usually gets involved. In our experience at Govchain, the CIPC documents are what hold people up, not the bank. The bank cannot open a company account until the company exists.

Which should you pick?

Pick FNB First Business Zero if you trade as a sole proprietor, your turnover is under R1 million, and your money arrives by card and EFT. It is free to hold and its per-transaction fees match Capitec's.

Pick Capitec Business if you have a (Pty) Ltd, you handle some cash, and you want a flat R50 with no bundle to track. For most small registered companies with cash deposits under R15,000 a month it is the cheapest account of the three, and the fee sheet fits on one page.

Pick FNB Gold Business when one of three things is true: you deposit more than about R15,000 of cash a month and the R349 bundle absorbs it, and your card purchases, EFTs and debit orders fit inside its 65 a month; you want an overdraft or loan from a bank that has been lending to small businesses for a long time; or you want accounting, invoicing and payroll inside the banking app.

Do not pick Gold Business Aspire for a business that already transacts. At R4 a card purchase and R12 a debit order it is the pricing option to leave as soon as you can.

FAQ

Is a Capitec business account cheaper than FNB?

For a registered company with modest cash, yes. Capitec's R50 flat fee plus R2 EFTs, R3 debit orders and R14 per R1,000 cash deposited beats FNB Gold Aspire on every line. For a sole proprietor, FNB First Business Zero is cheaper because the monthly fee is R0 and the transaction fees are the same as Capitec's. For a cash-heavy business, the FNB R349 bundle is cheapest.

Can a sole proprietor open a Capitec business account?

The R50 Capitec Business Banking Account is for CIPC-registered companies, trusts and partnerships. A sole proprietor uses the Capitec Entrepreneur Account instead, which is linked to a personal Capitec account and carries no extra monthly fee. If you want the full business account, register a company first.

What is the turnover limit on FNB First Business Zero?

R1 million a year in FNB's pricing guide for 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027. The account is for sole proprietors only. Above R1 million, or once you register a company, FNB moves you to Gold Business.

Do I need a registered company to open a business bank account?

No. Both banks have a sole-proprietor option. But a company account keeps business money legally separate from your own, which matters for tax, for tenders, and if the business owes someone. See when you are legally required to register a company.

Which bank opens a company account fastest?

Capitec opens the business account digitally through its app once your CIPC documents are in hand. FNB's company route starts online but the pack is checked before activation. Either way the bottleneck is the CIPC paperwork, which takes about a week through Govchain and must be complete before any bank will FICA the company.

Get the company registered first, then pick the bank

Whichever account you choose, the bank will ask for your CIPC registration certificate, Memorandum of Incorporation and beneficial ownership details before it opens a company account. Govchain registers your (Pty) Ltd at the CIPC, files the beneficial ownership register, and can hand you straight to a business banker for the account opening if FNB is your pick. One form for the company, one set of documents for the bank.