SA start-up develops interest-free BNPL platform for existing credit
Home-grown fintech start-up Float has launched what it believes to be South Africa's first interest-free buy now, pay later (BNPL) product that uses a customer's existing credit. The product enables consumers to get their purchases upfront, and use existing credit to...
How technology can help SMEs get paid on time
For small businesses, late payments can be the difference between surviving or failing. This is something that local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have been grappling with for years prior to Covid-19. However, the ongoing pandemic has only exacerbated this...
Humanising the digital experience will give banks an edge
Rapidly changing customer expectations and steadily increasing competition within the banking sector are forcing financial institutions to digitalise their operations, while at the same time ensuring that they humanise their digital experience to gain a competitive...
We need to level the playing field between cash, card and digital
What would happen tomorrow if we could turn South Africa into a cashless society with a wave of a magic wand? Far from turning the country into a crime-free paradise of low transaction costs and widespread financial inclusion, it's more likely that chaos would reign...
SA insurance industry almost ‘out of the woods’
The South African insurance industry has been invaluable to the economy, serving as a shock absorber and allowing many businesses to recover. This is among the findings of KPMG South Africa's annual South African Insurance Industry Survey for 2021, which polled 40...
100 banks sign up for Swift Go
Since Swift Go went live in July, 100 banks around the world have signed up, to send fast, predictable, highly secure and competitively priced low-value cross-border payments from their bank accounts. Ten banks are already live with Swift Go, most recently Deutsche...
Standard Bank sees 400% growth in virtual card issuance
While South Africans have been embracing virtual cards for some time, the use of this digital payment method has seen a dramatic rise recently. Data from Standard Bank shows that physical card uptake in 2020 slowed significantly, down over 50% from 2019. Meanwhile,...
The role of the consumer in the creation of insurance products
Traditional insurers are under greater pressure today than ever before, writes Greg Gatherer, account manager at Liferay Africa. Even before the pandemic, South African insurers were facing a whirlwind of claims, raising questions about the long-term viability of the...
Ukheshe partners with African tech unicorn
Fintech enablement partner Ukheshe Technologies has announced a new partnership with Chipper, one of Africa's most valuable startups, to enhance and accelerate the rollout out of Chipper's digital payment offerings. These include free and unlimited P2P payments across...
The effects of climate change on SA’s insurance industry
Climate change is a hotly debated environmental risk and with a marked increase in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events as outlined by Aon's Annual Catastrophe Report, there is a rising concern that weather catastrophes will impact the sustainability...
Digitally-driven solutions can bolster SA’s financial sector
Recent research released by Accenture and the World Economic forum (WEF), estimates that the adoption of digital technologies within the financial services industry can unlock R1,2-trillion in value for the South African financial services industry, its customers and...
Accelerated digital transformation means quick wins for insurers
Across the globe, digitally transformed insurers are weathering the pandemic more successfully than those relying more on in-person intermediation. Robin Wagner, senior vice-president: international insurance at TransUnion, explains why -- and the importance of...