FinTech Futures: Top five stories of the week – 2 September 2022
Here’s our pick of five of the top news stories from the world of finance and tech this week.
Absa
Barclays to sell remaining 7.4% stake in South Africa’s Absa
The offloading of 63,072,652 shares will raise approximately £538 million, Barclays says.
Inequality, climate change and economic recovery: how can Africa overcome this triple threat?
Banks should look to make commitments around sustainable finance to drive much-needed change.
Absa searching for new chief security officer as Bucchianeri says goodbye
The South African banking group is also looking for a new CIO.
Absa rolls out PowerCARD across Africa with HPS
Absa started working with HPS last year.
Making payment easy across Africa and beyond
Thabo Makoko, explores how the continent can improve its payments infrastructure.
Unlocking a continent of opportunity: digital and mobile transforming Africa’s business landscape
A quiet financial revolution is gathering pace across Africa – stemming from the rise of smart mobile tech.
Absa AI automates account switching in South Africa
Bank’s CIO Jacques Barkhuizen calls it a “world first”.
Banking tech problems hit TSB and Absa
UK and South Africa united in fintech grief.
Absa Group and MTN enable POS mobile wallet payments
The service has only launched in Ghana, so far.
Absa launches mobile account opening
Absa CIO: “Your bank account is live immediately – no need to go to a branch.”
Absa’s ChatBanking service now includes WhatsApp
Says it’s first in the world to offer full banking services via the chat app.
Absa gets real with virtual investor launch
South African heavyweight Absa Bank has unveiled its own artificial intelligence (AI)-powered online investment platform, Virtual Investor. The self-service platform uses AI and computer algorithms to recommend a product for customers based on their financial attitudes to risk. Armien Tyer, head of Absa Investments, says: “Individuals can either invest a once-off lump sum amount or […]
Absa targets African millennials with Hello Soda partnership
Absa Bank, a subsidiary of Barclays Africa, has partnered with multilingual text analytics and big data firm, Hello Soda, as it looks to tap into the millennial market. The bank says it wants to make sense of unstructured social data to better understand its consumer base. According to Absa, Hello Soda provides new ways for […]
Payments round-up: 10 October 2016
Wasting your time is a crime. Here’s a round-up of key events in the payments space. Absa has teamed up with South African start-up Walletdoc to let its Absa Rewards customers earn cash rewards each time they use Walletdoc to pay their monthly accounts. Walletdoc works by sending reminders when payments are due, notifying users […]
Absa launches digital wallet and ChatBanking for Facebook Messenger
Absa has launched a MasterCard-powered digital wallet and ChatBanking for Facebook Messenger. ChatBanking will let customers conduct banking without having to leave the social media platform; and follows on from the recent introduction of Absa ChatBanking on Twitter in May. Ashley Veasey, group CIO and chief digital officer at Barclays Africa (Absa is majority owned […]
Absa first in Africa to join R3 blockchain consortium
South African heavyweight Absa is the first bank in Africa to join New York-based R3’s blockchain consortium. Absa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Barclays Africa Group Limited, will be working with over 50 banks to design and deliver distributed ledger technologies to global financial markets. On the back of its membership, Absa will also be […]
Absa launches ChatBanking for Twitter
South African banking heavyweight Absa has launched ChatBanking, the “first” service in Africa offering day-to-day banking from a Twitter account. As part of the “initial offering”, ChatBanking provides “actual and available” balance on a transactional account; ability to buy airtime or data for a cellphone registered to their account; and get a mini-statement showing most […]
Out of Africa for Barclays as profit falls
Barclays is leaving Africa as it looks to consolidate the group and increase shareholder returns after a 2% drop in full-year profit. The bank will sell its 62% stake in Barclays Africa Group Limited (BAGL) over the coming few years and then focus on two divisions – Barclays UK and Barclays Corporate and International. BAGL […]
