{"id":748046,"date":"2024-02-02T11:34:33","date_gmt":"2024-02-02T09:34:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=748046"},"modified":"2024-02-02T11:34:38","modified_gmt":"2024-02-02T09:34:38","slug":"what-to-expect-for-fintech-in-south-africa-in-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/technology\/748046\/what-to-expect-for-fintech-in-south-africa-in-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"What to expect for fintech in South Africa in 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Experts are saying that South Africa&#8217;s fintech landscape is set to undergo major developments in 2024 as a result of regulatory changes, technological advancements, and increased competition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Financial technology, or fintech, is the implementation of technology to enhance and streamline conventional financial services and procedures. This includes various products and services like online banking, mobile payments, peer-to-peer lending, digital wallets, and financial management tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchandmarkets.com\/reports\/5819624\/fintech-trends-in-south-africa?utm_source=CI&amp;utm_medium=PressRelease&amp;utm_code=k4hfw7&amp;utm_campaign=1866549+-+South+Africa+Fintech+Industry+Report+2023%3a+30%25+of+All+Players+Fall+into+the+Payments+Sector+-+The+Largest+and+Most+Mature+Sector&amp;utm_exec=chdo54prd\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.researchandmarkets.com\/reports\/5819624\/fintech-trends-in-south-africa?utm_source=CI&amp;utm_medium=PressRelease&amp;utm_code=k4hfw7&amp;utm_campaign=1866549+-+South+Africa+Fintech+Industry+Report+2023%3a+30%25+of+All+Players+Fall+into+the+Payments+Sector+-+The+Largest+and+Most+Mature+Sector&amp;utm_exec=chdo54prd\">a report<\/a> by Research and Markets, &#8220;South Africa\u2019s financial services sector is internationally recognised as one of the most sophisticated,&#8221; seeing 40% of all fintech revenue in Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the last decade, this has been &#8220;complemented by a small but fast-growing fintech sector that is transforming financial services through digitisation, streamlining or disruption.&#8221; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fintech experts at Webber Wentzel,&nbsp;Dawid de Villiers, Gabi Richards-Smith, and Lerato Lamola have said that they believe that 2024 will see significant developments in the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The five key predictions for South Africa&#8217;s fintech industry are around:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Generative AI and machine learning guidelines;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Amendments to the payment laws;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Crypto and blockchain changes;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Open finance framework regulation;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>More entrants into mobile banking and financial services.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Generative AI and machine learning guidelines<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Artificial intelligence and generative AI boomed in 2023. The experts believe that guidelines for the &#8220;effective use of artificial intelligence (AI)&#8221; in highly regulated industries such as the financial sector are expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;These [guidelines] will shape how these powerful tools are used, ensuring innovation with safeguards,&#8221; said the experts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Amendments to the payment laws<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anticipated amendments to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.za\/documents\/national-payment-system-act\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.gov.za\/documents\/national-payment-system-act\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">National Payment System Act<\/a> &#8211; which provides for the management, administration, operation, regulation and supervision of payment, clearing and settlement systems in South Africa &#8211; are expected to be rolled out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Expect to see the amendments allowing for greater involvement of non-bank players accessing the payment system,&#8221; they explained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The finalisation of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.treasury.gov.za\/twinpeaks\/Conduct%20of%20Financial%20Institutions%20Bill.pdf\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.treasury.gov.za\/twinpeaks\/Conduct%20of%20Financial%20Institutions%20Bill.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Conduct of Financial Institutions Bill<\/a> is also expected, which could include provisions dealing with payment system-related activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Crypto and blockchain changes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Financial Conduct Sector Authority <a href=\"https:\/\/techcabal.com\/2024\/01\/24\/south-africa-crypto-licenses\/#:~:text=This%20was%20followed%20by%20the,for%20licenses%20in%20June%202023.\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/techcabal.com\/2024\/01\/24\/south-africa-crypto-licenses\/#:~:text=This%20was%20followed%20by%20the,for%20licenses%20in%20June%202023.\">is anticipated <\/a>to issue formal approval of various crypto asset service providers&#8217; licenses in the first months of 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Conduct of Financial Institutions Bill, which is expected to have provisions dealing with crypto assets, is also set to be finalised. &#8220;Further regulation and standards around the regulation of crypto assets dealing with the cross-border flow of funds and the market conduct of crypto asset service providers are also anticipated,&#8221; said the experts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Open finance framework regulation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is expected that the adoption of guidelines which regulate the activities of financial institutions and third-party providers is imminent from the Financial Conduct Sector Authority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The finalisation of the Conduct of Financial Institutions Bill is expected to have specific provisions dealing with data sharing, consent, and security within the open finance framework,&#8221; they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>More entrants into mobile banking and financial services<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More players providing financial services through mobile telecommunication services are anticipated in the evolving sector. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Further foreign investment in local players as well as entrants from other international regions are also expected to enter the South African market.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/cloud-hosting\/743765\/rise-of-ai-complex-clouds-and-evolving-work-from-home-major-tech-trends-to-look-out-for-in-2024\/\">Rise of AI, complex clouds and evolving work-from-home \u2013 major tech trends to look out for in 2024<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fintech experts expect to see some major developments in the financial technology sector.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101,"featured_media":748106,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9878],"tags":[15385,19274],"class_list":["post-748046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-financial-technologies","tag-fintech"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/748046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=748046"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/748046\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":748114,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/748046\/revisions\/748114"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/748106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=748046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=748046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=748046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}