AS the world gathers in South Africa for the G20 Summit, innovation will be one of the topics on the agenda.
Setting the scene, one of SA’s leading innovator in modern banking Capitec, launched what is called Innovation Exchange, that speaks on the banks eco-system in Sandton on Thursday.
With security and police sirens being the order of the day in ‘Africa’s richest square mile’ Capitec executives engaged with industry leaders, media and partners, as they unpacked what shapes the future of banking, security identity eco-system, cross-border payments, and SME funding worth over R1bn in 2025, amongst others.
Through its Fraud Prevention, such as AI- driven security innovation systems, Capitecprevented over R300 million in client fraud this year, blocking 80 000 mule accounts and 200 000 scammer payments.
“We have always been a bank built for 95% of the population. Every transaction is a signal of what people value – and with trillions of data points, we can build solutions that reflect the real needs of South Africans,” remarked Graham Lee, Capitec CEO.
“We are investing heavily in technology and innovation across all areas of our business, to transform client service – and above all, to invest in trust. The most important application of technology is keeping our clients safe,” says Lee, who joined the group recently.
The banks most anticipated innovation, is the partnership with the Department of Home Affairs to issue IDs and passports – currently in pilot stage.
Lee emphasised that the process requires excellence across an end-to-end value chain, from biometric capture in branches to fulfilment.
Capitec plans to activate the service in 100 branches by mid-2026, expanding to around 300 branches by year-end, and scaling beyond that across its network of over 860 branches.
Key innovation highlights includes:
- Fraud Prevention: State-of-the-art, AI-driven security systems prevented over R300 million in client fraud this year, blocking 80 000 mule accounts and 200 000 scammer payments. Client-control features put the client in charge:
- Feature lock prevents fraud if a phone is compromised by locking features that clients rarely use.
- Digital fingerprint creates a unique phone identity using the contact list, immediately flagging app access from an unauthorised device.
- Location permissions have proven helpful in kidnapping cases and are actively used by 13 million of Capitec’s 14 million app clients.
- Payment innovation: Driven by over 200% growth in trading merchants, more than R1 billion was funded to small businesses this year. Capitec Pay has pioneered the most secure online payments (24 million monthly transactions) and became the first in South Africa to secure international e-commerce payments to global platforms like Shein and Netflix.
- Capitec Connect: Since March 2025, 1.1 million active SIMs have been rewarded with 449 terabytes of free data.
- Global Reach: Cross-border payments are available in 8 African countries and have recently expanded to Pakistan and Bangladesh. The bank has eliminated international transaction fees on card payments since 1 October, saving clients R55 million while simplifying international transfers to a flat R175 fee for over 50 countries.
Chief Information Officer, Wim de Bruyn highlighted the increasing complexity of digital crime, noting that South Africa lost R2.7 billion to financial crime in 2024. “It’s a daily battle – and we are fighting it with industrial-scale technology.”
He was supported by Head of Financial Crime, Nick Harris, who said this should be attributed to 2,000-strong team of engineers who drive this transformation.
Their advanced fraud-detection models, cloud-based client-verification tools, and behavioural analytics have collectively prevented hundreds of millions in losses, said Harris.
“One of our first cloud-based implementations in 2023 was a feature that tells clients whether they are really speaking to Capitec. Clients have shared remarkable stories about how those alerts stopped a scam in its tracks,” continued Harris, as he highlighted the importance of client-facing innovations.
These innovations reflect Capitec’s commitment to solving real-world problems through technology that is human, accessible, and secure, cited Blessing Mgaga, Divisional executive: Retail Client Experience at the group.
“Every innovation we’ve shown today – whether it’s getting a Smart ID in a branch, verifying an in-app call, or sending money across Africa – is designed to help our clients live better,” remarked Francois Viviers- Group Executive of Marketing and Communications.
Cross-border payments have expanded from eight African countries to include Bangladesh and Pakistan, with more regions to follow, and has removed international transaction fees from October, making its card one of the most affordable ways to pay globally.
“We are building an ecosystem where banking is not just a utility,” Viviers said, “but a catalyst for personal and financial growth.”
Capitec also highlighted its extensive fraud-education initiatives, including Slam the Scam with Sis Thandi, Bank on It with BankerX and Business Day, regular communication via its app and WhatsApp platforms. These programmes educate millions in their home languages, and help combat social-engineering scams where persuasion and panic, not technology, is the primary threat.
Capitec has promised its devising a marketing strategy for their Stokvel initiative (a billion rand scheme) for 2026; has amassed 25m clients and 14m app clients, and 12m youth clients within the 16 to 35 age bracket- as part of its high potential segments.
Rapid growth in trading merchants saw 200% growth in 12 months, and hitting over 1000 monthly loans to businesses, says Lee.
Image supplied (Capitec’s boss Lee Graham, recorded at the group’s Innovation banking media launch held in Sandton on Thursday morning).
