One of the new South African banks on the horizon, Bank Zero, says it has initiated alpha testing of its systems, as it prepares itself for a launch in mid-2019.<\/p>\n
The group officially registered as a mutual bank in August 2018, and in the months that followed it started\u00a0integrating with the national payments systems of the SARB – a move that it says will bring major benefits to customers.<\/p>\n
Lezanne Human, co-founder and executive director, said that “settling directly with the SARB rather than through a \u2018sponsoring bank\u2019 enables us to participate directly with peer banks in the movement of money.”<\/p>\n
“We now have the ability to control our payments value chain, which forms a powerful foundation for innovative and cost-efficient offerings.”<\/p>\n
This SARB integration, together with being a true mutual savings bank that pays decent interest, it said, will enable Bank Zero to nurture a savings culture.<\/p>\n
Yatin Narsai, co-founder and CEO said that the bank has now entered into alpha testing, which is a major achievement.<\/p>\n
“Most institutions invest billions just to get here,” he said.<\/p>\n
Alpha testing involves a small team validating the end-to-end live systems and processes, which includes:<\/p>\n
The bank said it has also entered into strategic collaborations with Mastercard and IBM.<\/p>\n
Mastercard and Bank Zero are currently developing a ‘new generation of card’ to deliver cutting-edge security and other unique features, supporting Bank Zero\u2019s value proposition and addressing modern-day payment realities.<\/p>\n
The initiative while provide the latest EMV technology and deliver multi-layered security protocols to protect users against fraud and identity theft, it said.<\/p>\n
IBM, meanwhile, will deliver high-volume secure computing, providing the bank with enterprise-grade security on its open-source-based LinuxONE enterprise server through its pervasive encryption technology.<\/p>\n
For certain functions, Bank Zero uses the cloud \u2013 which will provide a hybrid model that delivers the best of both worlds.<\/p>\n
Co-founder Michael Jordaan said that the bank will enter beta testing during the first quarter of 2019, with public operations expected to start around mid-2019.<\/p>\n