The Prudential Authority (PA) has imposed administrative sanctions on Bidvest Bank Limited (Bidvest Bank) for non-compliance with the provisions of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001, as amended (FIC Act). The FIC Act mandates the PA, in terms of section 45, to supervise and enforce compliance with the provisions of the FIC Act
At the recent Blockchain Africa conference in Johannesburg, Investec, in collaboration with BankservAfrica and uPort, demonstrated a digital identity system anchored in the Ethereum blockchain. The initiative was born in the digital identity working group of the SA Financial Blockchain Consortium (SAFBC). The identity system enabled each conference attendee to create an individual identity by
Finn AI, the world’s leading AI-powered conversational banking technology provider, announces that TymeBank in South Africa has launched Max, a financial fitness coach within their TymeCoach offering. TymeBank partnered with Finn AI to develop Max, a conversational assistant dedicated to helping consumers learn about their money including how they can enhance their financial profile, improve
Bank Zero has officially implemented its powerful EFT payments capabilities and started full end-to-end Beta testing ahead of the bank’s launch in the second half of 2019. Bank Zero is now processing payments and debit orders efficiently and securely, as well as facilitating purchases of prepaid items such as data, airtime and electricity. Bank Zero’s
It is estimated that the spaza shop market in South Africa is valued at around R40 billion per year and that 90% or more of the transactions are in cash. This market is growing at around 10% each year. Despite this alarming statistic of unaccounted cash, South Africa’s informal market is characterised by unbanked spaza
The National Savings Bank (NatSave) and Mastercard have signed a strategic partnership agreement, which will see the bank rollout Mastercard Chip and PIN prepaid and debit cards to provide its customers with a safer and more convenient alternative to transacting with cash. This is in line with the government’s goal of creating an inclusive and
FSS (Financial Software and Systems), a global PayTech company, has announced a strategic investment in Ecentric Payment Systems, a Standard Bank subsidiary and a leading payment processor in South Africa. FSS has acquired a 46% stake in Ecentric through a combination of primary and secondary investments, with a potential to further its stake holding. FSS,
ACI Worldwide, a leading global provider of real-time electronic payment and banking solutions, has announced an extension of its long-standing relationship with Capitec Bank, South Africa’s second largest retail bank. Capitec, a long-time ACI customer, now supports card and non-card payments acceptance through the UP Retail Payments solution – an integrated platform for all payment
Statista.com, the global statistical data portal estimates that the number of smartphone users in South Africa will reach 22 million in 2019. This is in line with FNB’s data which indicates an increase in banking via digital channels by young people, especially the Banking App. According to FNB data, customers between the ages of 22-30
The Shoprite cross-border money remittance product reached the R1 billion mark in January, after just three years of it being implemented between SA and Lesotho. The cost of a transfer of R900 is 2%, which is one of the cheapest cross-border products in the world. A remittance is when a person sends money, usually small
