Tag: FinancialServices

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer something financial institutions are preparing for. It is already embedded in how decisions are made, how products are designed and how risk is managed. Whether through fraud detection, algorithmic trading, customer engagement or compliance monitoring, AI is steadily reshaping the financial services sector.

When a senior advisor or executive walks out the door, especially to join a competitor, your restraint of trade clause is often the only thing standing between you and serious commercial damage. Here is what recent South African case law tells us about what works, what does not and what you need to do now.

Financial leaders are now being asked to fund Artificial Intelligence (AI), govern it, and explain the value it creates. This isn't a simple technology question. In banking, it is becoming a test of leadership. AI is starting to influence decisions at the core of the business. These include credit, fraud, pricing, collections, customer engagement, compliance and operational resilience. These decisions affect customers, regulators, shareholders, employees and the institution’s ability to compete.

We have concluded a first-of-its-kind benchmark study focused on how employees experience technology across eight major institutions in the Financial Services Industry (FSI). The Employee Technology Experience Index (TEXI) measured employee sentiment across eight core technology categories. It used a standardised scoring methodology. The findings reveal the scale of the cost.

Connecting to a real-time payment rail is the straightforward part. Delivering an experience that genuinely feels instant is where the real work and the competitive advantage lie. There is plenty of excitement about real-time payment rails at the moment. Most of it is justified. Moving money in seconds rather than days changes what a business can offer the people it serves.

In several major global markets, accounting firms are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain a steady pipeline of qualified professionals. Fewer graduates are entering the profession, and progression to senior levels is taking longer. At the same time, firms face greater technical demands.

South Africa should carefully assess how short-term instalment products are interpreted before Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) data shapes access to mainstream credit. The country could risk turning BNPL into a product that shuts people out of mainstream credit rather than helping them into it. This could happen if BNPL data enters credit-scoring systems that were never designed to interpret this type of product fairly.

For years, banks have modernised around channels. Mobile apps have improved. Onboarding has become faster. Customer engagement has also become more personalised. These improvements matter because customers experience them daily. However, a more difficult shift is now underway.

For years, the future of finance and accounting has been framed mainly as a story about technology. Artificial intelligence (AI), automation and data platforms are reshaping the profession. They are changing how work gets done and what employers and clients expect. However, if that is the whole story, we are missing the point.

For most of the past decade, African fintech was a land grab. Valuations rewarded user numbers. Interfaces became flashier. “Disruption” became the pitch that attracted capital investment. From the outside, it was clear that the model was running hotter than it could sustain. However, that era is over.