Capitec Bank CEO Graham Lee Capitec CEO Graham Lee said on Wednesday that the bank has formally applied for early access to Anthropic’s Mythos model and, after clearing the first hurdle with Amazon Web Services, is now in direct discussions with Anthropic – putting South Africa’s largest retail bank by customer numbers among a growing…
The emergence of Anthropic’s Mythos is setting up a scramble from the banking industry to gain access and test the technology as regulators rush to examine the cybersecurity risks the new AI model raises and how prepared financial firms are to tackle them. Mythos is viewed by cybersecurity experts as posing significant challenges to the…
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent and US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell convened an urgent meeting with bank CEOs this week to warn of cyber risks posed by Anthropic’s latest AI model, two sources familiar with the matter have said. Anthropic launched the powerful Mythos model earlier this week but stopped short of a broad…
Optasia CEO Salvador Anglada Optasia has secured US$330-million (R5.4-billion) in refinanced and upsized debt facilities, with Standard Bank acting as joint mandated lead arranger and underwriter in a deal that deepens the banking group’s relationship with the JSE-listed fintech. The facilities comprise a $180-million term loan and $150-million in bank guarantees, and are designed to…
Licensed South African bookmakers have called on banks and payment providers to block transactions to “illegal” offshore gambling platforms, which they claim now account for nearly two-thirds of all online betting activity in the country. The South African Bookmakers Association (Saba) has said in a new report it commissioned from global gaming research firm YieldSec…
Salvador Anglada Optasia CEO Salvador Anglada says the very same algorithms that made credit-vetting decisions via mobile wallets can be used in formal banking. Newly listed, technology-driven fintech Optasia sees the formal banking sector as a “massive opportunity” for growth as the company’s microfinancing business continues to overtake its traditional airtime advance offering. Speaking to…
Scaling AI responsibly remains an ongoing challenge for banks. (Image created via ChatGPT) South Africa’s top banks are intensifying their digital arms race, with client acquisition and transaction volumes continuing to increase, driven by mobile-first platforms. This is according to PwC’s Major Banks Analysis, which provides an overview of how local banks are leveraging technology…
A senior Qatari official, who has worked for years in the Gulf state’s ministry of foreign affairs, told CBS News on Wednesday that the Middle East has, “for all intents and purposes,” been engulfed in a regional war that governments in the region warned about for years. Dr. Majed Al-Ansari, an adviser to the Qatari…
In this episode of ITWeb TV on The Road, Capitec CEO Graham Lee and Home Affairs minister Dr Leon Schreiber speak to ITWeb about the smart ID self-service centre launch in Orange Farm, as well as how technology is being deployed to combat fraud and reduce queues at the department. #HomeAffairs #SmartID South Africa’s banks…
Cairo — African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) welcomes GCR Ratings’ (“GCR”) latest Rating action on the Bank, affirming the Bank’s international scale long and short-term issuer ratings of A and A2 respectively. The outlook was revised to “Stable” from “Rating Watch Evolving”. GCR has also affirmed the international scale long term programme rating on the USD…
