Why digital banking is the future in South Africa

In an already fast-paced industry, COVID-19 has accelerated the move towards a digital world.
Millions of South Africans have increased their use of online services – and banking is no exception. Now more than ever, financial organizations are under pressure to adapt and innovate as they face the evolving demands of the modern consumer and increasing disruption from rapidly emerging technologies.
FNB reported an increase in average ecommerce spend on its merchant devices through the first half of 2020 of 30% year-on-year, while Standard Bank has also reported growth in online shopping and eCommerce.
While the rise of online banking was swift before the pandemic, the national lockdown meant that more South Africans have now made the switch.
Banks with comprehensive, user-friendly online banking systems have already seen major benefits throughout the pandemic as their customers have remained satisfied with the services they have received.
The Temenos Value Benchmark found that top performing banks using their software have achieved industry-leading cost-income ratios of 25.2% and returns on equity of 25% – double the industry average.
These banks are also positioned to capture a larger portion of the market in the future as many unhappy customers from other banks will be moving to superior services.
The financial services industry is therefore at a crucial juncture – and your bank should ensure it is on the right side of history.
The South African landscape
Despite many financial institutions making significant moves into providing a great digital experience, the digital banking landscape remains open for the taking.
J.D. Power research has discovered that digital-only customers continue to report the lowest levels of satisfaction in the banking sector – meaning financial institutions still have major room for improvement.
Locally, the Experian data breach has exacerbated the concerns of South Africans over the security of their online banking activity.
Digital infrastructure is therefore particularly important if you are a bank or financial institution operating in South Africa, and as we move to more streamlined and customer focused banking, the role of cloud banking becomes crucial in ensuring faster and more flexible service delivery, which is further amplified when delivered on a SaaS model.
The country is experiencing an accelerated uptake of digital technologies among its citizens. Additionally, it is of particular importance in a country like South Africa to offer a mobile-first approach to digital banking tools.
This is because South African banking customers predominantly use their smartphones to do online banking.
However, it is not enough simply to be accessible on mobile and other digital devices – banks need to offer their customers outstanding functionality and security that exceeds that which they can get from competitors.
How Temenos enables an end-to-end digital transformation
Temenos is a world-leading banking technology provider that delivers outstanding banking experiences to more than 1 billion customers all around the world.
With a Customer Centric Digital Transformation platform, the Temenos Infinity product is the perfect option for South African banks and financial institutions.
The world-class front and middle office transactional capabilities of Temenos Infinity enable financial institutions to accelerate their digital business transformation and reimagine the way that they engage with their customers through both the digital and physical channels, offering them a seamless and secure experience by leveraging data for a frictionless and hyper-personalised experience.
As a low-code, core agnostic, SaaS solution, Temenos Infinity provides full mission-critical service delivery, removing the integration complexities while allowing financial institutions to launch engaging digital solutions across all banking sectors – fast.
With comprehensive data analytics, AI, and smart banking capabilities to generate superior customer insights and an omnichannel experience, it helps to improve customer engagement and satisfaction