PODCAST | Standard Bank’s take on digital banking investment

Standard Bank’s investment in technology is the focus of this edition of Business Day Spotlight. 

Host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Khomotso Molabe, group CIO for personal and private banking at Standard Bank. 

Molabe outlines how Africa’s largest lender is investing in technology to improve customer experience with its platforms. 

Standard Bank reported a 6% rise in digitally active retail clients in SA, as more customers transitioned to convenient digital channels, for the year end-December 2024.

Much of this was driven through the personal and private banking unit, which “continued to enhance its digital capabilities to provide seamless client experiences and to optimise cost to serve”. As a result, digital transactional volumes increased by 10% and branch transactional volumes declined by 24% “as clients continued to prefer online solutions”. 

Molabe, who also serves as Standard Bank SA CIO, details how the bank creates and brings to market various features. He says customers are mostly using mobile devices to do their banking.

Physical branches have a place in the group’s overall strategy, but are more for specialised services. 

With artificial intelligence (AI) growing in relevance and use, Molabe says the bank is experimenting with various uses, such as AI-powered financial advice. But such features will be brought to the public only once fully tested to limit or eliminate error. 

Topics of discussion include: the use of technology to improve customer experience; growth of AI; product development cycles; and the place of bank branches. 

Molabe also highlights different uses and rates of adoption in its various operating countries.

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Business Day Spotlight is a MultimediaLIVE Production. 

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