[ad_1]
Capitec will launch a number of new features in the coming months as part of the bank’s growing drive toward digitization, says CEO Gerrie Fourie.
Fourie said the Covid-19 pandemic “did not steer the bank off course” and that his management team remained very focused on building a bank for the future.
This includes a focus on remote onboarding and banking, and the coronavirus pandemic shows a clear push from Capitec clients towards digital, he said.
Some of the key changes include:
- The launch of virtual cards;
- The ability to apply for credit remotely in a couple of easy steps;
- The option to open an account or sign a document using facial biometrics, which is verified in real time with the Department of the Interior database;
- A new partnership with Easy Equities that will allow clients to invest directly in stocks through the Capitec app.
Noting the new Easy Equities partnership, Fourie said Capitec expects to launch this functionality in mid-October. He said clients will be able to buy shares directly through Easy Equities at a discounted rate.
While Capitec has historically focused on the lower-income market, Fourie said it sees this new partnership as “added value” for clients.
He said that low-income people do not normally invest in stocks, yet there is clear interest among the bank’s younger clients.
Results released on Wednesday (September 30) showed a 24% increase in digital banking customers, from August 2019, now amounting to 7.3 million customers, making Capitec the largest digital bank from South Africa.
Capitec said the accelerated adoption was driven by customers’ need to stay safe and bank from home, while benefiting from lower transaction fees and unrated data charges in the app. As a result, applications, Internet and USSD transactions collectively grew by 52% to 556 million in the last six months.
Fourie said the lockdown has significantly increased the importance of digital banking, helping drive its adoption.
“The lockdown has accelerated South Africa’s shift to a digital economy and consumers are now looking more than ever for customer-centric digital banking that puts them in control of their finances.
“Our active app customers have grown 38% to over 4 million and our new app is the most downloaded app in all of the major South African app stores.”
Virtual cards
Fourie said he was also excited about the growth of digital payments where cards are not present, as the bank looks to expand into the e-commerce and digital payment space it sees into the future.
“The one that excites me is the absent card. That is the future of payments, where you pay with QR [codes], etc. “, She said.
“We strongly believe in e-commerce and digital banking, the payment space. How do you do it smoothly? Pay with QR codes. That is a very important focus for us. Ensuring that the business experience of our merchants is skilled. “
It added that around 1 million customers conducted 4 million transactions this way in the reporting period. This has been driven in part by the shift to digital due to the national shutdown and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Read: Capitec’s profits decimated by the consequences of Covid-19
[ad_2]
