Fintech can unlock business potential of African banks

Cape Town - Fintech is turning traditional banking on its head and is disrupting the way ordinary Africans manage and use their money.

Digital innovation in banking offers potential rewards for banks and can lead to increased revenues from innovative offers and new business models. In addition, it can lead to lower operational costs from automation, digitisation and transaction migration.

Speaking at a Fintech Innovation Business Forum hosted by the Cape IT Initiative and Innovation Norway, Arise CEO Deepak Malik highlighted the importance of financial service providers investing in this critical sector through collaboration with fintech innovators.

“In this connected digital era there is a need for smart financial solutions that add value to people’s lives. Fintech has the potential to reimagine traditional banking products and it is important that banks use this technology to unlock their full economic potential,” said Malik.

“Successful fintech collaborators will use digital technologies to automate processes, create new products, improve regulatory compliance, transform the experiences of their customers, and disrupt key components of the value chain. Banks need to embrace this technology and reinvent their service offerings to meet customer demand if they want to survive.”   

A key focus for Arise, whose core mandate is to partner with local sustainable financial service providers in Africa to contribute to economic growth, is to advance this sector.

“One of the largest challenges facing fintech firms is achieving scale and reach. Arise through its investee financial networks across Africa can help firms to overcome this challenge,” said Malik.

“Going forward a strategic imperative for Arise will be to enhance the value proposition of banks in Africa through encouraging collaboration between fintech firms and banks.”