As the digital economic voyage into the metaverse starts to accelerate, major players in trade and industry are poised to develop custom experiences in this digitally-enhanced world, which is being heralded as the future of ecommerce.

Leading financial institution Nedbank has collaborated with Africarare, Africa’s first metaverse, and secured a 12×12 village in Ubuntuland on which to establish its presence as the first African financial services organisation to enter the metaverse.

This forms part of the financial services group’s strategy to lead in digital, go beyond banking, discover new marketing platforms and leverage new technology to better serve its customers and stay at the forefront through forward-thinking solutions.

The Nedbank village with a focus on customer value and services, will contain numerous experiences ranging from virtual gaming, a sports lounge and more.

Nedbank joins global players such as DBS Bank, HSBC, JP Morgan, and Fidelity Investment who have partnered with metaverses globally. Africarare, Africa’s first metaverse is highly sought-after by companies and individuals wishing to capitalise on the multiple opportunities presented by the metaverse. The early settlers in Ubuntuland include MTN, World Data Lab, and M&C Saatchi Abel.

“Creating experiences that go beyond banking has always been a focus for Nedbank. Our entry into the metaverse is not merely about having a presence in this space, it’s about meeting the needs of our clients on platforms that resonate with them, while offering an array of touchpoints that continue to demonstrate our commitment to lead in digital,” says Khensani Nobanda, group executive for Marketing and Corporate Affairs at Nedbank Group.

Fred Swanepoel, Nedbank’s Chief Information Officer, adds: “As Nedbank we want to remain at the forefront of the technologies that will enable the next wave of digital business models, so we’re investing in Web 3.0 and the newer open source technologies on which the metaverse is built. It’s important for us as Nedbank to continue leading and advancing our digitisation journeys which have already yielded excellent results for the Group and enable Nedbank to engage in the future digital marketplaces, where we believe, we will need to meet and serve our clients.”