On Tuesday (17 June), Capitec Bank launched its Remote Banking app for its Global One banking clients, providing core transactional functionality on both feature and smartphones to a growing tech-savvy and app-hungry customer base.<\/p>\n
And in the first four days post official launch, the group is already seeing\u00a0 an average of just over 4,000 registrations per day.<\/p>\n
The move brings Capitec on the same digital path as the other “big four” banks in South Africa, which have released digital mobile banking offerings over the past three years.<\/p>\n
The app is being marketed by Capitec as a “mobile banking branch”, giving its clients access to core transactions from anywhere, at any time.<\/p>\n
In order to use the application, Global One clients are required to register for Internet and mobile banking, and need to activate the app in-branch using biometric data, and can thereafter transact using a PIN.<\/p>\n
In 2012, after Standard Bank and Nedbank added fuel to the fire started by FNB in 2011 promoting banking apps as a banking channel, Capitec appeared almost indifferent to the trend.<\/p>\n
At the time, and in months following, Capitec maintained that its mobile strategy had been tied to a bottom-up approach, whereby it made mobile banking accessible to as many people as possible, irrespective of device – thus, focusing its mobile services on the USSD platform.<\/p>\n
With the release of Remote Banking, Capitec says that nothing has changed with that focus – so why care about a mobile app now?<\/p>\n
In part, the release of the app speaks to a notable shift in the group’s client base.<\/p>\n
According to Capitec, the bank’s client profile has changed to a point where there are enough Global One account holders using internet-connected phones to justify and warrant the investment in an app platform.<\/p>\n
In its latest full year results, Capitec reported that it had added\u00a0711,000 active clients for the year ended February 2014<\/a>, boosting its total base by 15% to 5.4 million.<\/p>\n According to Capitec, there is now a greater awareness from middle market consumers around its Global One account, which has lead to greater adoption from that segment.<\/p>\n However, despite that specific market growth, the bank said it was imperative that its app platform stuck to the bank’s core principles and was still accessible to as many people as possible.<\/p>\n “The approach (as it has always been) is to expand on the Global One account functionality – not to focus on a specific group of clients,” the group said.<\/p>\n Compared to competing apps, Capitec’s offering is stripped down, basic and (currently) lacks a lot of services available on its own – more widely used – USSD channel (though the bank promises these features are coming).<\/p>\n This approach is disparate to what South Africa’s bigger banks have shown in their releases – a fact which Capitec was quick to point out, itself.<\/p>\n Capitec says it has one focus: practical, simple banking for clients.<\/p>\n Len Gerber, Capitec Head of IT Development, explained that, throughout the app’s development process, the aim was to actually strip away features during development to get to the core of banking, and make sure that as many clients as possible could make use of it.<\/p>\n Some consumers and commentators have seen Capitec’s last-to-market mobile offering as succumbing to the pressure from the other banks’ digital strategies – but the group is adamant that this is not the case.<\/p>\n Capitec head of business development, Andre Olivier noted that the banking app – which was in development for about 18 months – was always part of the bank’s plan to make banking more accessible across multiple channels.<\/p>\n According to Olivier, the app and the timing of its release, aligns with the group’s strategy to get the fundamentals of simple banking in place and grow its services organically as the business and market are ready for it.<\/p>\n “We could have released an app years ago – but to what end? The majority of our customers didn’t have a need for it.”<\/p>\n Olivier, however, was quick to note that this doesn’t mean that the bank exists in isolation, and it is fully aware of what the other banks are doing.<\/p>\n “We can’t bury our heads in the sand, and then look up and see that the world has changed. We take note of what’s going on.”<\/p>\n Ultimately, however, as smartphone adoption in South Africa increases, and consumers get more tech savvy, Capitec noted that the app will diverge on feature phone and smartphone platforms.<\/p>\n Quinton was invited and hosted by Capitec to tour its head offices in Stellenbosch, Western Cape. The Capitec banking app is here<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Capitec banking app on its way<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Capitec Bank selects Entersekt for mobile security app<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nFollow the leader?<\/h3>\n
\n<\/em><\/p>\nMore on Capitec\u2019s mobile app<\/h3>\n