The banking landscape of the future

Do you remember the days when, in order to get that bank loan to buy a house or start a small business, you had to don your best Sunday suit and go and meet with THE BANK MANAGER? If he was suitably impressed, you would get your loan or bond and he would then keep a beady eye on your account, on how your business was doing and how the repayments were being met.

Fast track to today and things have changed dramatically. Gone are the neighbourhood bank managers, replaced by business managers who connect with you on-line. Your local branch, if it still exists, redirects you to a call centre or you sort out problems online.

The banking world is working towards fully digitising their money systems. Many countries are phasing out notes and coins and plan to be cashless, payments by cheques are almost obsolete and cards are set to go the same way as we transact through apps and mobile connectivity.

Evolving Technology

In the same way that we can now communicate and trade through on-line and smartphone technology, we are fast approaching contactless transacting when it comes to controlling our finances. Banking has moved from the branches to our phones and systems such as Paypal and other digital wallet platforms put the power of transacting at our fingertips. Blockchain technology, which combines shared databases and cryptography, allows multiple parties to have simultaneous access to constantly updated digital portals and can be adopted for trade financing, syndicated loans and international payments.

Banking Integration

South Africa is unique in having a strong banking sector comprised of what are known as the Big Commercial Banks, but that is fast changing as new players enter the market offering cutting edge app-driven alternatives and reduced banking fees. With the UK and Europe looking to enable an ‘open banking’ system, we could soon benefit from a cross pollination between banks that allows one to choose banking services from a variety of banks – all from one app.

Future Disruption

While we get used to new apps and marvel at how banking has changed, this is just the beginning. Although still quite controversial and volatile, the principle of crypto currency as representing the free movement of money has played a part in the disruption of our world and, although still viewed with apprehension, is here to stay and could evolve to become a major player.

Artificial intelligence paves the way for voice-based systems or chatbots that will act as personal digital financial assistants that will take care of all our banking needs.

Predictive analytics will fingerprint our unique digital profile to give us more personalised and specialised services. Biometrics, using fingerprint scanning and facial recognition will be integrated into mobile banking applications making passwords a thing of the past.

With the world’s focus on disruption, technology and digitisation, the South African banking system in South Africa, consistently ranked in the top ten in the world, is ahead of the game and well-positioned to lead us into the future.

Banks With Dedicated Franchise Divisions

The franchise sector, with its unique business format that is based on the win-win relationship between franchisor and franchisee, needs financing solutions that are tailored to its needs. Since FASA was formed 45 years ago, the major banks like Absa, FNB, Nedbank and Standard Bank and more recently Capitec, Old Mutual and African Bank have worked closely with the franchise sector to offer tailor-made solutions to both franchisors and franchisees.

Banks, franchisors and franchisees and the banks all work together in a “tri-partite alliance’ to find solutions. Even the suppliers and the landlords can be brought in with the goal of developing short term and long-term solutions. Most of the banks have a countrywide network of offices, staffed by teams that understand the franchise environment, are able to respond to the changing needs and circumstances of their clients’ businesses. They all offer innovative and tailor-made solutions to meet every franchise’s business requirements to promote business growth.

Visit FASA to find out more about FASA’s banking service providers.