Why Standard Bank is betting big on the ‘platform economy’

Loading player...
Banks are facing more competition today than ever, and much of that competition is coming from left field – from non-traditional competitors such as mobile operators and technology giants.
The implications, says Standard Bank Group, are dire for financial services institutions that are unwilling to adapt their strategies to compete effectively in what it calls “the platform economy”.
The banking group recently published a new research paper, called “The Power of the Platform Economy for Financial Services”, which unpacks the risks and opportunities in detail.
One of the authors at the research paper, Standard Bank executive: platform business lead for wholesale clients (digital) Jonathan Lamb, joined the TechCentral podcast to unpack what all this means for “legacy” banks in both the business-to-business and business-to-consumer markets across Africa.
Where is the threat to banks coming from? Will mobile operators, with mobile money services, or social media companies like Facebook, which owns WhatsApp, prove to be the bigger competitive threat down the line? And how can banks respond?
Lamb believes banks are in a strong position to counter the competitive threats, but they cannot rest on their laurels.
How do they deal with their legacy IT infrastructure (many are still running mainframes at their core), and is the fact that they are heavily regulated an advantage or a disadvantage in the fight to come?
Don’t miss this fascinating discussion on the future of an industry in flux.
30 Sep 2021 English South Africa Technology · Business

Other recent episodes

TCS | Anoosh Rooplal on the Post Office’s last stand

The South African Post Office has been in business rescue – a form of bankruptcy protection – since July 2023. Business rescue practitioners Anoosh Rooplal and Juanito Damons have made it clear to parliament that the entity will not survive liquidation unless a R3.8-billion bailout is received soon. With some…
27 Mar 27 min

Meet the CIO | Healthbridge CTO Anton Fatti on the future of digital health

Anton Fatti, chief technology officer of HealthBridge, says the doctor-patient relationship must remain at the centre of digital transformation in healthcare, even as AI reshapes how medical practices operate. Speaking on TechCentral’s Meet the CIO podcast series, brought to you by NTT DATA, Fatti said AI and cloud computing are…
23 Mar 45 min

TCS+ | Arctic Wolf unpacks the evolving threat landscape for SA businesses

Most security teams can tell you what they've deployed. Far fewer can answer the board's next question: are we actually less exposed than we were three months ago? In many organisations, the gap between security activity and real risk reduction remains stubbornly wide, even as threats become faster, more adaptive…
19 Mar 29 min

TCS+ | Vox Kiwi: a wireless solution promising a fibre-like experience

Access to stable, reliable, high-speed internet is crucial to participating in the modern economy. Although fibre connectivity offers the highest speeds and reliability, fibre penetration rates unfortunately remain relatively low in South Africa, leaving may would-be customers wanting. Vox recently launched Kiwi, a wireless connectivity solution promising a fibre-like experience…
13 Mar 15 min

TCS+ | Flipping the narrative on AI in the Global South

In this thought-provoking episode of TechCentral's TCS+, Mpho Chitapi sits down with Dr Josefin Rosén, principal trustworthy AI specialist in SAS's Data Ethics Practice and co-author of the influential report Constraint to Capability: Flipping the Narrative on AI in the Global South. What unfolds is a rich conversation that challenges…
13 Mar 39 min