PODCAST | Digital banking and modern business growth

As the use of digital platforms in banking increases, we take a closer look at Investec’s tech spend in this area in this edition of the Business Day Spotlight. 

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Shabhana Thaver, chief information officer at Investec. 

Thaver says technology has become a central part of how the bank delivers its services to customers.

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While retail banks have focused on essentially replacing their banking hall services with mobile and internet platforms, the likes of Investec have looked to do the same for its professional, private wealth, corporate and institutional segments. 

With core banking services having remained largely the same over decades, Thaver says much of the technology use has been in response to changing customer expectations. As people do more banking and financial transactions online, banks need to keep up with demand, while maintaining a quality service.

Earlier in 2022, SA’s largest banking group — Standard Bank — sounded the alarm that traditional financial services firms risk losing their place in the market to competition from fast-growing fintech players that are working to offer services at faster and cheaper rates, mainly to the unbanked. 

In recent years, these fintech companies have made it easier to send and receive money both locally and internationally among a growing list of products and services, aimed at increasing ease of use and security for people in Africa.

Thaver advocates for open banking, which refers to a growing movement of platforms that provide third-party service providers access to consumer banking, transaction and other financial data from banks and other financial institutions using application programming interfaces (APIs). 

She says Investec has chosen to look at fintech as partners, rather than competition, working a number of these operators through its systems to deliver digital banking services. 

Topics of discussion include: Investec’s investment in technology; drivers for digital transformation in banking; rising competition from fintech players; the concept of open banking; legacy systems in banking; and thoughts around decentralised finance and the blockchain.

The discussion also focuses on legacy systems that have bedevilled established banks in recent years.