Every South African bank that has launched a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) – Capitec, FNB, Standard Bank, Nedbank and soon Absa – has built its mobile business on phone numbers it does not control. The international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) embedded in every Sim card belongs to the host network. The phone number –…
Absa Group CITO Johnson Idesoh Johnson Idesoh, group chief information and technology officer at Absa, says AI in all its forms – generative, agentic and the AI now being wielded by cybercriminals – is the single biggest topic on his desk, but cautions that it remains a tool that has to be tied directly to…
Standard Bank Group’s Simon Just Standard Bank has come out in defence of a market-led approach to open banking in South Africa that the Reserve Bank recently criticised, while the fintech industry is calling for more regulation. In March, the Reserve Bank released a working paper (PDF) arguing that South Africa’s market-driven approach to open…
The author, Absa’s Lindelani Ramukumba Rewind just a few years and large language models and generative AI were barely on the public radar. Yet the technology has already evolved into its next iteration: agentic AI, a new breed of systems that are semi- or fully autonomous and able to reason and act on their own….
A new paper by the Reserve Bank argues that South Africa’s market-driven approach to open banking is limited in its reach. In fact, it risks entrenching the same socioeconomic barriers that have locked large sections of the population out of the financial system. The newly published working paper (PDF) argues that a regulated approach is…
NSIA Group is restructuring its financial services business with the creation of NSIA Holding Financière, a new entity designed to centralize its banking and financial activities. The move follows a strategic reorganization launched in 2025 aimed at improving operational coordination and supporting expansion across African financial markets. The group said the new structure will serve…
Standard Bank’s Bill Blackie Standard Bank has rolled out a substantially upgraded business banking platform that shifts greater control to customers, allowing businesses to manage their own electronic payment limits, user entitlements and fraud protections without calling a relationship manager. The R1-billion re-platforming project, built in collaboration with vendor Backbase, represents the bank’s bid to…
Absa Group has announced a series of executive leadership changes, headlined by the appointment of former M-Pesa Africa MD Sitoyo Lopokoiyit as CEO of its personal and private banking division. Lopokoiyit, who takes up the role on 1 April, joins from Safaricom, where he led the strategy and growth of M-Pesa, Africa’s largest fintech platform….
David Barrett, CEO of EBC Financial Group (UK). The rapid growth of digital banking is creating opportunities for cyber criminals to use deepfake technology, particularly AI-generated voice and video scams, to commit fraud. Experts warn of deepfake investment content and impersonation tactics spread on social media and messaging apps. This is according to global financial…
Bonolo Sebolai, head of fraud at TymeBank. The Remote Access Trojan (RAT) attack is one of the fastest growing and most dangerous scams targeting South African consumers, warns Bonolo Sebolai, head of fraud at TymeBank. A RAT is malicious software that allows a fraudster to remotely control a person’s phone or computer. According to TymeBank,…
