Tech savvy love banking apps
ROCKETS: DIGITAL TRANSACTION VOLUME BOOMS
Millennials joining the workforce are driving growth in new banking habits.
grew from 32% to 71%. Increased digital functionality has enabled it to move some previously in-branch only transactions to digital channels.
FNB reported 65% annual growth in mobile banking app volumes, bringing the level almost on par with that of online or desktop banking, which fell 4% in the year to June.
Standard Bank says its customers “continued to indicate a preference for digital, rather than physical”. Its personal and business banking unit reported a 7% increase in active mobile banking users, with transactions up 58%.
Nedbank’s new app was downloaded over a million times and registered 400 000 active users in less than 10 months. Enrolments and transactions across all versions of its app increased 61% and 26% respectively.
Capitec registered a 62% increase in the use of its banking app to 1.8 million clients during the six months ended August. Self-service banking transactions grew 27% to 295 million.
Capitec’s decision to pick up its app data costs may also support transactional volumes.
CEO Gerrie Fourie said he was surprised by the pace of digital migration. Given SA’s low level of financial literacy, he thought it would take longer.
SA’s banked population is also finite. A 2016 FinScope survey on financial inclusion found that only 58% of adults, excluding SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) cardholders, are banked. So what’s driving growth? Banking Acumen’s Angus Brown, former chief executive of FNB’s eBucks, believes demographics are driving growth. “Every year … more millennials join the working population and they are tech savvy.”
He adds the scrapping of monthly fees and reduced charges for digital transactions is probably also playing a role.
From selfie banking to WhatsApp and video banking, local banks are pulling out all the stops. It remains to be seen how such “gimmicks” rate against simple offerings, but there’s a place for such devices, says Brown.