African Bank is rolling out hundreds of banking ‘pods’ and kiosks in South Africa

While many banks have been scaling back on their branches, African Bank says it plans to buck the trend and expand its physical footprint in South Africa.
The bank has also announced the introduction of hundreds new ‘banking pods’ and kiosks which it said will give increased access to customers.
“Our research tells us that despite the increase in digital adoption, there is still a large percentage of customers who enjoy the flexibility of our offering and the opportunity to physically interact with the bank in their own communities,” said Sibongiseni Ngundze, African Bank’s group executive for sales and distribution.
“One of the key drivers of our African Bank strategy is the expansion and optimisation of our distribution infrastructure to better service our customers. The introduction of banking kiosks and pods represents an acceleration towards those strategic aims.”
The introduction of kiosks and pods will increase African Bank’s distribution footprint from 400 to 930 outlets by 2025. This will complement the bank’s existing physical and mobile branch network, as well as its digital and telephony offerings, and will provide a presence in areas where there are none, it said.
The initiative follows African Bank’s launch of a new mobile branch fleet last year, which aims to reach existing and potential customers closer to where they live.
“We offer full-service banking out of these vehicles as a valuable service to support and empower rural communities who traditionally have no, or only limited access, to banking facilities. Our network of pods and kiosks expands on this successful concept and will offer the same services,” Ngundze said.
“As we grow, we will deploy in remote areas where unbanked levels remain high, and where our customers want to physically interact with the bank,” he said.
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