Tag: financial services

In an increasingly uncertain global and domestic landscape, the banking sector delivers steady performance while demonstrating resilience and strategic clarity. Through disciplined management, digital transformation and customer-focused innovation, the country’s leading banks continue to maintain stability despite economic headwinds.

Conversations about the war for talent in financial services have persisted for many years. Competition to attract skilled individuals has always been intense, with high demand for talented professionals. This competition has intensified recently as hiring activity accelerates to meet today's significant challenges.

The introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) is a significant part of the digital transformation bringing challenges and changes to the job descriptions among management. A study we conducted shows that integrating AI systems into service teams increases demands imposed on middle management in the financial services field.

Standard Bank and Pick n Pay customers’ shopping experience has just become even more convenient, easy, and safe, through the Standard Bank’s EasyScan – a service that enables customers to pay for their shopping using the Standard Bank Mobile Banking app.  

Digitalisation was already a key theme in the growth strategies of financial services providers before the global COVID-19 pandemic struck. The need to innovate in response to shifting customer demands around engagement and experience, rising industry disruption from digital-native challenger banks or pivots from major digital-native businesses, and the need to respond to a dynamic regulatory environment has spurred digital transformation and entrenched an innovation agenda across the industry.

On Tuesday Stats SA announced that SA’s GDP had contracted 51% between April and June (using annualised quarter on quarter numbers – in other words, this is a 17% decrease for the quarter) as a result of the lockdown imposed in response to Covid-19. The contraction was shocking – but not unexpected. Given that government took the decision to implement one of the harshest and longest lockdowns globally, the severity of the economic contraction should not come as a surprise.  

Changes in the way customers expect to engage with the financial services sector and increasing pressure from regulators is compelling financial services companies to come up with innovative ways to manage their data. Financial services businesses view information/data as a significant corporate asset.

A new industry standard will drive transparency around hidden fees in the financial services sector, and there is optimism that consumers will benefit in the long run. Big financial services companies may soon need to find new ways to pad their earnings, as a new industry standard is threatening to expose the financial service sector’s worst kept secret – hidden fees.

The problem of inappropriate labelling is not confined to law. It is appearing in the financial services market which should take deliberate steps to resist incorrect labelling, particularly by regulators.

Financial services sector worldwide is missing ‘window of opportunity’ to support women’s career progress. Globally, financial services is falling behind other sectors when it comes to supporting women’s progress into senior positions, according to a report issued by PwC.