Standard Bank, Africa’s largest bank by assets, and its peer have raised their minimum salary to more than R21,000 a month as the banking sector continues to pay above minimum wage salaries to attract promising talent.
Absa has hiked its minimum pay to R263,750 a year, or just under R22,000 a month. Standard Bank has increased its minimum pay to R22,700.
Standard Bank’s stellar 2025 results, which saw the group report record headline earnings of R49.2bn, saw the banking supermajor reward its employees with generous bonuses.
The lender’s remuneration committee (Remco) hiked the short-term incentive (STI) pool to R13.2bn, nearly all of Capitec’s profit for the 2025 financial year.
“While there is a broad alignment in 2025 between STI pool growth and headline earnings, historically shareholders have benefitted more than executives,” Lwazi Bam, chair of the Remco, said in the group’s annual report.
The group, armed with R3.6-trillion in assets, employs about 50,000 people in its operations in 21 countries in Africa.
The broader Africa portfolio, which contributed R19.7bn to the group’s R49.2bn profit overhaul, has become a key cog of the group’s growth blueprint, with the lender expecting the region to account for 45% of its earnings by 2028.
Standard Bank’s consistent performance over the past three years saw its top executives cash in hefty long-term incentives via the group’s performance reward plan (PRP), which vested at the end of last year.
Group CEO Sim Tshabalala had a R67m PRP vesting, taking his total remuneration for the year to R106m, including cash incentives.
The group’s CFO Arno Daehnke’s total remuneration came in at R79m, including a vested PRP of R45.2m.
The bank’s business unit heads and chief operations officer also had their PRP vesting.
“To attract, motivate and retain exceptional talent in competitive markets requires a remuneration framework that is performance-driven, transparent and sustainable. This will ensure we are balanced enough to retain our best people yet disciplined enough to safeguard shareholder value,” Bam said.
“I look forward to open and constructive engagements with shareholders to ensure our approach to remuneration continues to drive the right behaviour and serves a clear purpose.”
Absa’s reported headline earnings increased by 12% to R24.8bn in the 2025 financial year, reflecting lower credit impairments, disciplined cost management and solid momentum across key business segments, particularly in corporate and investment banking and Africa regions.
The group’s Remco approved a STI pool of just above R4bn.
- Business Day
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