{"id":825301,"date":"2025-05-23T09:45:22","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T07:45:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=825301"},"modified":"2025-05-23T09:45:28","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T07:45:28","slug":"forget-ai-and-q-day-this-is-the-big-threat-to-south-africas-banking-sector","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/industry-news\/825301\/forget-ai-and-q-day-this-is-the-big-threat-to-south-africas-banking-sector\/","title":{"rendered":"Forget AI and Q Day \u2013 This is the big threat to South Africa\u2019s banking sector"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>While many banking industry thought leaders are focused on cutting-edge technologies like AI and Quantum Computing, they should be more concerned with factors like geopolitical risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is according to Monocle CEO David Buckham, who was speaking at the 2025 Beyond Banking Conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/monoclesolutions.com\/en-za\/?utm_source=BusinessTech&amp;utm_medium=Article&amp;utm_term=May+2025\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Click here to learn more about Monocle.<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Hosted by GIBS and sponsored by Monocle, this event is the premier banking conference in South Africa and is attended by an elite group of top banking executives and thought leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Watch the video below to learn more about the 2025 Beyond Banking Conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Why the Beyond Banking Conference is shaping the future of finance\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lvK4bQjv9eU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Beware the hype<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking on a Beyond Banking Conference panel, Buckham said he disagrees with the level of hype that trendy themes like AI and Q Day are receiving in the banking community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFor the latest two to three decades, we have consistently focused on narratives,\u201d said Buckham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He highlighted examples like Robot Processing Automation (RPA), blockchain, AI, and now Q Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI think we get caught up in these narratives \u2013 and I think many of these trends end up being overhyped,\u201d said Buckham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Buckham believes Q Day is unlikely to take place in the next 30 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Furthermore, if Q Day were to happen, it would effectively negate the power of AI, and the same could happen with another \u201cDeepSeek moment\u201d \u2013 where all of our existing AI investments and innovation are rendered inferior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-26.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"575\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-26-1024x575.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-825305\" srcset=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-26-1024x575.png 1024w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-26-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-26-768x431.png 768w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-26-1536x862.png 1536w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-26.png 2045w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The bigger threat<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead of putting all of our focus on trends like AI and Q Day, Buckham said we should place a larger focus on the geopolitical risks facing banks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He highlighted that the world\u2019s major cloud providers are centralised in the West, and more specifically in the US \u2013 a country that is in an incredibly unstable geopolitical position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not necessarily that we don\u2019t trust the abilities of these tech firms \u2013 it\u2019s the relationships we have politically with these countries that could put banking cloud infrastructure in jeopardy,\u201d said Buckham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He highlighted how when the US sanctioned many Chinese companies, it resulted in companies like Huawei being unable to work with Google.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A similar situation in South Africa could prove catastrophic to the banking industry, which relies heavily on US cloud infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-27.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"575\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-27-1024x575.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-825306\" srcset=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-27-1024x575.png 1024w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-27-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-27-768x431.png 768w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-27-1536x862.png 1536w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-27-2048x1150.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The solution<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Buckham pointed to India\u2019s approach to geopolitics as one that South Africa should follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>India has managed to toe the line between its relationship with the US and its relationship with the East to great effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Buckham believes South Africa must follow suit \u2013 and he said President Ramaphosa is well qualified to do this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPresident Ramaphosa is a seasoned campaigner, and one of the chief negotiators during the Irish troubles,\u201d said Buckham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHe has the ability to help us get back onside with the US and magnify our position between the BRICS multipolar world and a US world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/monoclesolutions.com\/en-za\/?utm_source=BusinessTech&amp;utm_medium=Article&amp;utm_term=May+2025\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Click here to learn more about Monocle.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We get caught up in these narratives, and many of these trends end up being overhyped, says Monocle CEO David Buckham.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":825302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10459],"tags":[19843,5316,19840],"class_list":["post-825301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-news","tag-beyond-banking","tag-gibs","tag-monocle-solutions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825301","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\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=825301"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":825307,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825301\/revisions\/825307"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/825302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=825301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=825301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=825301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}