The End of Slow Banking: From Play to Run in Weeks, Not Years

Let’s be honest.

Most banking and payments initiatives don’t fail because of bad ideas. They fail because of how they’re delivered.

Too slow.
Too complex.
Too much planning.
Not enough working software.

Twelve months in, you’re still aligning stakeholders, refining architecture, and waiting on integrations.
Meanwhile, the market has moved on.

This isn’t just a technology problem; it’s a delivery model problem.

And it’s time to fix it.

The Real Issue: Banking Is Built Backwards

Traditional delivery looks something like this:

Everything is optimised for control and certainty.

But in reality, it creates the opposite:

By the time something actually works, it’s already outdated.

What If You Flipped It?

What if instead of trying to design the perfect system upfront, you focused on getting something real working—fast?

Not a slide.
Not a prototype.
A working flow.

That’s the shift. And it changes everything.

A Better Model: Play → Pilot → Build → Run

We’ve found that the fastest, lowest-risk way to deliver modern banking isn’t through bigger projects.

It’s through smaller, outcome-driven phases, supported by a platform that removes the integration friction that typically slows teams down.

1. PLAY: See What’s Possible

Most organisations spend too long debating what might work.

Play is about answering that question quickly.

In a matter of weeks, you spin up a working environment:

You move from:

“We think this could work”

To:

“We’ve seen it working”

Confidence replaces assumption.

Behind the scenes, this is enabled by the FutureBank platform that can stand up quickly, abstracting complexity and allowing teams to experiment without being blocked by infrastructure or third-party dependencies.

The FutureBank impact:

2. PILOT : Make It Real

This is where most traditional programmes start to struggle.

Pilot cuts through that.

Not eventually.
Not in UAT.
Now.

This is where orchestration becomes critical, bringing multiple systems, providers, and services together in a way that behaves as one, rather than a collection of brittle point-to-point integrations.

Because if it doesn’t work here, it won’t magically work later.

The FutureBank impact:

Teams stop talking about “eventually” and start delivering now. Complexity turns into working reality.

3. Build : Scale What Works

Now, and only now, you scale.

Not based on theory, based on what you’ve already proven.

With the right foundation in place, this phase becomes about acceleration, not reinvention. You’re not guessing anymore, You’re building on something that already works.

The FutureBank impact:

Products launch faster and actually hold up under pressure.

4. Run :  Operate Without Fear

This is the phase most teams underestimate.

Because building something is one thing. Running it reliably is another.

Run is about:

It’s about knowing that when something fails, and it will, the system recovers, reroutes, and continues.

This is where orchestration and visibility are not just “nice to have,” but essential, ensuring that money continues to move, even when individual components don’t behave as expected.

Because in banking, “almost working” isn’t good enough.

The FutureBank impact:

Money moves when it should.
Customers trust the system, because it works.

Why This Matters Now

The pressure on banks and fintechs isn’t slowing down.

You don’t have the luxury of 18-month transformation cycles anymore.

You need:

And you need it now.

This isn’t about adopting a new framework. It’s about changing how you think about delivery.

From:

Banking doesn’t need more strategy decks. It doesn’t need longer roadmaps. It needs systems that work.

Not in theory.
Not eventually.
Now.

From first idea to full-scale operation, FutureBank removes friction so banking just works.

Banks Need an App Overhaul to Stay Generationally Relevant

Source: TechCentral
FutureBank CEO Sergio Barbosa and Global Kinetic COO Lorén Rose

It’s not just technology that is changing at breakneck speed. How different groups of customers engage with new technology is also shifting. While banks have spent fortunes on protecting their customers against fraud, this has slowed spending in other areas – and the cracks are beginning to show.

Currently banks release a single app for their entire customer base, ignoring the opportunity to adapt it for different market segments that each have their own unique preferences, technology inclinations and financial priorities. A good example of this is the one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to catering for the shifting preferences of different age demographics.

According to a WP Engine report, the gap between how the generations respond to technology is widening. About 64% of Gen Z (those born between 1996 and 2015) believes that AI will positively impact the world, compared to 46% of Baby Boomers (those born in the 1950s). Gen Z also expects websites to be predictive of their needs, with 41% willing to leave a site that fails to do so.

There should be a completely different app for the older generation, where transacting is simplified, options are abstracted and security is paramount. Banks should also consider a gamified kids banking app, or an interactive Gen-Z app for young adults. The problem is that banks are often tied into a solution they bought that they can’t customise. And the current stale user experiences are quickly becoming a real problem.

South African banks are missing out on customer experience (CX) opportunities with banking apps that lack the ability for customers to personalise the interface and views to suit their individual needs and preferences. This can lead to cluttered and confusing experiences, especially for older or less tech-savvy customers, increasing the risk of accidental transactions and other issues.

Hyper-personalisation

Most banks will create hyper-personalisation around a specific product offering, but overlook cross-cutting CX concerns. User interfaces should be customisable to specific audience segments across all products and all features for a better overall CX. Few big banks are getting this right. Some have created youth banking apps, but most have missed the mark completely, essentially just creating more basic versions of the parent app and not properly thinking through the experience.

A complete overhaul needs to be undertaken by the larger banks to create entirely separate apps and channels for large, cross-cutting concerns, such as age, demographics and language, among others. From there, one can start the hyper-personalisation process, and then within these broader segments developers can look to create more engaging experiences with the help of AI.

And it’s not just the user interface that needs to be addressed. Customer service departments need to be retrained to deal more emphatically with customers. This is especially important in times of high stress such as a fraud incident.

To address these challenges, South African banks will need to adopt a more outside-in, customer-centric approach to designing and delivering their services, leveraging technology and data to anticipate and meet the diverse needs of their customer base.

Personalisation is key. Banks must allow customers to personalise the app layout, views and widgets to show only the information and features they need, reducing clutter and the risk of accidental transactions. They should also let customers hide sensitive information like loan balances from the main dashboard if they prefer.

Offering a streamlined and integrated dispute process directly into the app, allowing customers to quickly flag and report fraudulent transactions, is also immediately beneficial.

Personalisation should also extend to customer support and banks must have agents with empathy. Banks should also use AI-powered chatbots or virtual assistants to provide initial support and guidance, escalating to human agents as needed to meet the digital preferences of younger generations.

Banks should consider a build-and-buy approach to plug in services or solutions. There are now API platforms with fintech marketplaces available that allow banks to benefit from the rapid integration and roll-out of new capabilities.

The key is to look at the unique needs and pain points of different generations and design the banking experience accordingly, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. And, with Generation Alpha (those born between 2010 and 2025) about to become the next discerning digital banking customer, banks have no time to waste.

Banks are warned against failed core strategies, as time runs out to modernise.

Source: TechCentral

Banks around the world are rushing to upgrade legacy systems that are placing them at a significant disadvantage in a time when they are already challenged by neo banks that have none of the same infrastructural baggage. But as RFPs mount up, the C-suites have been warned not to adopt a core migration strategy that could come back to bite them.

The IDC says global Financial Institution (FI) spending on legacy payments technology is expected to grow 7.8% from $36.7 billion in 2022 to $57.1 billion in 2028. However, this increased spending on outdated systems is contributing to technology budget constraints and mounting technical debt, all of which hinders innovation and risks the banks’ relevance to an already fickle consumer.

Nonetheless, FI leaders are coming under growing pressure to take action. Research from McKinsey found that operating costs for banks still running outdated cores averaged 10 times higher than those with next-generation core systems. And there is no time to lose, with IDC cautioning that the cost of delaying migration is also increasing, saying banks that fail to migrate to a future-ready platform can potentially miss out on a 42% increase in additional payments revenue and savings on legacy costs of up to 21% annually.

“There are a growing number of RFPs focussed on core migration at the moment with banks looking to migrate off their legacy infrastructure. There are currently only three options open to CTOs: Rip and replace, which almost never works; co-existence; and then what the industry refers to as an at-the-edge solution. We believe, no matter the size of the bank, there is only one solution that will work, and has a proven track record of working, and that is co-existence,” says Sergio Barbosa, CIO of enterprise software development house, Global Kinetic, and CEO of its open banking platform, FutureBank.

Big bang could spell big trouble

The rip-and-replace methodology of migration has been the primary option for replacement and upgrades to core banking systems for many years. However, migration delays and failures with this big bang method have given most technology leaders pause for thought.

Industry specialists liken switching a bank’s entire customer base to a new banking core to swapping out a plane’s engine midflight; a risky process with the danger of highly disruptive errors, and even catastrophic failure.

“In our experience, rip and replace has never worked well in practice. These types of large-scale, big-bang migrations often end up being very lengthy projects that require banks to completely shut down their existing core systems before migrating. There are too many technical challenges and integration points all of which make a full rip-and-replace very difficult to execute successfully,” Barbosa says.

Greenfields are attractive but come with big Caveat Emptors

Building a new platform at the edge involves building an additional, new core banking platform that sits separately from the bank's existing legacy core system. The new at-the-edge or greenfield platform operates in parallel with the old legacy core, but it is not directly integrated or connected to the legacy system. The idea is that over time, the bank would migrate customers from the legacy core to the new edge platform. The expectation is the old legacy core would be deprecated and phased out as the new platform takes over.

This approach aims to limit the implementation risks of full core migration or rip and replace and can even be more cost effective. However, not all banks can justify launching an entirely new proposition, which comes with its own risks and carries high customer acquisition costs.

There have been many industry examples of successful at-the-edge approaches, including the often referenced Marcus by Goldman Sachs. This greenfields offering was built from the ground up on new technology and positioned as a digital-first brand underneath the parent’s umbrella. The bank’s retail unit ended 2020 with $97 billion in deposits and has been used as proof point for this methodology. But it is not without its pitfalls.

“Without direct integration between the new and old cores, the customer experience suffers as they have to manage accounts across two separate systems. The new edge platform often fails to gain enough momentum and traction to successfully replace the entrenched legacy core. What’s more, in many cases, the old legacy core ends up never being properly deprecated, as the new platform fails to fully replace it,” Barbosa explains.

An incremental and integrated approach, where two is better than one

An incremental approach to core banking modernisation is quickly gaining industry traction.  Co-existence, described by some as the ‘sidecar’ approach to core banking modernisation, allows FIs to establish a separate core banking system that coexists alongside its legacy core. And the new core is only responsible for servicing a limited subset of specific services, products or customer segments.

Integrating the new and old systems through integration software and platforms like FutureBank gives banks a single view of the customer across both the new and legacy core systems. The bank can then deploy strategies to gradually migrate products, accounts, and customers from the legacy core to the new core. This could involve deprecating old products as they expire and moving customers over, or using tactical solutions to migrate small parts of the business incrementally.

“We see the co-existence option as the superior one. A phased approach means the bulk of the bank’s operations would continue to run on its legacy core, mitigating disruptions that may take place when implementing the new core. It also means businesses can de-risk their efforts with a phased tech transition, allowing leaders to assess the efficacy and ROI of the new core before gradually migrating more customers and products to the new one,” Barbosa shares.

Industry research bears his assertions out, with more than half of mid-market banks (those with $10 billion to $100 billion in assets) across six countries saying they favoured a progressive transformation to gradually reduce their dependence on legacy core banking systems. In fact, the IDC has said that 40% of global banks will be pursuing a sidecar or co-existence core modernisation strategy by 2026.

“We know of so many banks in the throes of migration initiatives and the problem for many will be that they have been kicking the can down the road, delaying things because it is a big scary thing. Shareholders are expecting strong returns and legacy cores are draining, and for many, there can’t be any more stalling. But now is not the time to be prioritising the cheapest solution. CTOs must take a prudent approach that will still allow rapid innovation, keep customers happy, but that won’t risk the entire bank. That’s co-existence. And a trusted partner that has the experience to guide you through the process,” Barbosa says.

The rise of mobile wallets, and why consolidation is coming

Source: TechCentral

Digital wallets are emerging as a transformative force, poised to reshape the way businesses interact with their customers.

These digital payment platforms are not only streamlining transactions but also unlocking a wealth of opportunities for organisations looking to out-innovate the competition. But banks and businesses must be wary of interoperability challenges and the risk of vendor lock-in if they hope to benefit from the inevitable market consolidation that is coming.

Digital wallets are enjoying robust growth. Worldpay’s Global Payments Report 2024 estimates digital wallets will account for 61% of e-commerce payments and 46% of point-of-sale payments worldwide by 2027.

The card schemes are also throwing their weight behind the payment method. Mastercard has just announced Mastercard Pay Local, which will allow consumers to make payments at more than 35 million merchants that accept these wallets. The company says the service has been geared towards markets where digital wallets are widely used including Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

“Digital wallets offer a seamless, convenient way to manage consumers’ finances, store their identification and make payments with a simple tap or click. This level of integration and accessibility is particularly appealing in emerging markets, where traditional banking services have often fallen short in reaching underserved populations and are viewed as expensive,” says Pieter de Wet, business development lead at FutureBank. “For businesses, the integration of digital wallets presents a unique opportunity to enhance customer engagement, drive loyalty and unlock new revenue streams. By linking their services to these digital wallets, banks and retailers can tap into a wealth of customer data, enabling them to develop personalised offerings and targeted marketing campaigns.”

Opportunities abound when wallets open up

One of the most significant trends in the mobile wallet landscape is the proliferation of closed-loop wallets, which are tightly integrated with specific use cases, such as transportation or loyalty programmes.

“Closed-loop wallets, like public transport cards, have wide adoption, but money in the wallet is trapped. The true potential lies in the ability to ‘open up’ these closed-loop wallets, allowing users to leverage their stored value beyond the initial use case. By integrating closed-loop wallets with open-loop payment networks like Visa and Mastercard, organisations can unlock a new revenue stream through interchange fees, while also providing customers with greater flexibility and convenience,” says Sergio Barbosa, CIO of enterprise software development house Global Kinetic and CEO of its open banking platform, FutureBank.

If you can’t beat them

Historically banks have viewed digital wallets with some scepticism. Traditional banking models rely heavily on the interchange fees generated from card-based transactions. Digital wallets, especially closed-loop systems, can bypass these interchange fees, posing a direct threat to a significant revenue stream for banks.

The disintermediation of the customer relationship could also pose a threat. Digital wallets have the potential to become the primary interface between consumers and their financial services company, potentially diminishing the direct customer relationship that banks have traditionally enjoyed.

“Rather than fighting it, banks should be finding ways to participate in the very big upside wallets offer. What’s more, the entry of non-traditional players, such as tech companies and retailers, into the mobile wallet space can introduce new competitive dynamics that banks must be ready for. However, ensuring compliance and protecting customer information can be a complex and costly endeavour. The integration of sensitive personal and financial data within mobile wallets also raises significant regulatory and security challenges that banks must navigate,” De Wet cautions.

Overcoming the interoperability challenges

The number of wallets in the market is growing exponentially, but the FutureBank leadership believe this is not sustainable and consolidation will be the natural result. However, this process will undoubtedly be hindered by the interoperability challenge.

“The wallets must either consolidate commercially, or there needs to be a technology solution. The schemes aren’t going to do point-to-point integration with every wallet offering. There will need to be consolidation around the payment rails and tech infrastructure for market consolidation to really work. Unfortunately, interoperability is a major challenge,” Barbosa says.

A large part of the problem is vendor lock-in. When a business is locked into a single vendor’s platform or solution, it loses the ability to integrate easily with other providers or platforms. This can hinder its ability to adapt to changing market conditions or customer needs.

Vendor-locked solutions often come with a pre-defined set of features and functionalities, leaving little room for customisation to meet the unique requirements of the business.

“Our clients are acutely aware of the need to stay agile. Our pre-built adapters and integrations with all the major payment schemes and banks have been a big help to streamlining the onboarding process. This agility is particularly valuable in the rapidly evolving mobile wallet space, where time to market can be a critical differentiator,” says De Wet.

“Beyond the core integration, our clients want the ability to design and implement additional features and services on top of the wallet platform. This includes everything from gamification and loyalty programmes to AI-powered enhancements, allowing businesses to create a truly differentiated and engaging customer experience.”

Choosing the right integration partner

Barbosa says banks and retailers must be proactive in embracing these transformative technologies.

“Choosing the right integration partner means businesses can navigate the complexities of wallet integration, unlock new revenue streams and enhance customer loyalty – all while maintaining the flexibility to adapt to the constantly evolving market demands. The future of payments and identity management is undoubtedly digital, and digital wallets are at the forefront of this revolution,” he says.

Read more articles by Global Kinetic and Future Bank on TechCentral.

FutureBank brings rapid integration and modernisation to Mastercard Engage’s global customers

FutureBank, a leader in open banking and payments technology, has been accepted into the Mastercard Engage network as a Digital First partner. The move will allow Mastercard customers to fastrack their modernisation efforts through the FutureBank platform’s unique integration technology that allows banks and fintechs to quickly connect to the best banking capabilities on the market.

Engage, Mastercard’s global partner network, offers its customers access to a qualified network of technology and fintech partners so they can rapidly build, deploy and grow Mastercard payment solutions in an easy and cost effective way. In 2022, more than 150 Engage partners helped their customers deploy innovative solutions on more than 500 million accounts using Mastercard products and services.

Together with Mastercard, FutureBank will work on the problem of instant issuance and instant credit scoring in emerging markets. This will help ensure qualified customers can quickly access credit, boosting financial inclusion. In addition to this there will be a strong focus on helping legacy banks globally modernise their platforms to enable the instant issuance of cards.

“FutureBank has a proven track record of helping banks and fintechs accelerate time to market by making it easier to embed vital new financial services and make them available to their customers and partners. Far too many banks are still operating on core banking systems that are encumbered with technical debt and struggling with the challenge of integrating older infrastructure with innovative cloud based fintech offerings. Our integration layer provides a bridge to connect core banking and modern fintech to easily launch innovative new financial products and Mastercard saw the benefits this could deliver to banks, irrespective of their size, location, or technology footprint,” explains Sergio Barbosa, CEO of FutureBank.

Participating banks will also benefit from FutureBank’s sandbox environment, which provides mock data and code snippets to code against its platform in real time, no matter the language. An online account test simulator and SDK allows developers to test real world scenarios and craft tailormade embedded finance solutions that answer their customers’ unique requirements. FutureBank’s own extensive partner network also provides its customers with sought after capabilities around KYC, crypto, security and more.

“The Mastercard Digital First Program aims to assist banks in their critical journey to modernise and digitise their offerings. A surprising number of banks still struggle with this due to factors like internal capability constraints and budget availability. FutureBank’s platform already has many of the major core banking adapters in place, enabling the rapid and cost-effective integration of Mastercard products as well as other fintech options,” explains Pieter de Wet, Global Business Development and Partnerships Lead of FutureBank (also referred to as ‘The Sales Guy’).

Giving context to how efficient the integration process can be, Barbosa shared that FutureBank reduces integration costs by up to 85%, supports up to 80% of customer-facing

functionality off-the-shelf, and natively integrates with the majority of core banking infrastructure today, making it the most compatible banking platform in the market.

Becoming an Engage network partner will also deliver meaningful benefits to FutureBank.

“The partnership affords FutureBank a unique opportunity to extend our global footprint. The successes of the network are well known and we are excited about the prospect of working more closely with many of these respected partners. Collaboration has been at the heart of FutureBank’s culture since our inception and this partnership will allow us to work side by side with other industry innovators, which can only benefit our company and our existing customers,” Barbosa says.

FutureBank and Paymentology partner to deliver instant issuance

Source: TechCentral (13 December 2023)

Open banking and embedded finance platform FutureBank has announced a partnership with leading global issuer-processor Paymentology to provide banks and fintechs with streamlined integration to modern card issuing and processing technology, enabling instant issuance of virtual cards.

Paymentology provides banks, fintechs and telcos with the technology to issue and process any type of physical or virtual card through its multi-cloud platform, offering both shared and dedicated processing instances. The company operates in over 50 countries bringing a deep, local market knowledge across 14 time zones.

FutureBank is an open banking platform and fintech marketplace that helps banks, brands and fintechs integrate new banking and financial service products into their core systems and deploy them at scale with minimal cost and effort.

FutureBank has now joined forces with Paymentology to solve a critical business need in the financial services world. The collaboration of the two companies enables instant issuance of virtual cards even for financial institutions constrained by their core legacy banking systems, offering traditional banks a digital edge and speed without the need for a major replacement.

Instant issuance is a game changer

One of the payment challenges facing banks and fintechs globally is the ability to issue card payment instantly to their customers, individuals and businesses. Today, legacy core banking systems work in batch environments, while modern fintech use cases and user journeys require near real time responses. FutureBank and Paymentology tackle this issue at its source by enabling instant insurance through deep integration of both platforms, allowing for both virtual and physical cards to be available for use immediately upon request. Instant issuance allows financial institutions to print their customers’ payment cards at the time of onboarding and order or display them instantly as virtual cards on a mobile phone.

“The partnership solved an acute pain point. Paymentology’s platform enables instant issuance of tokenised cards, with easily configurable controls, and FutureBank’s integration capabilities into a range of existing core systems enables issuers to accelerate product development velocity in co-existence with their legacy systems. This combination enables even the most legacy of core banking infrastructures to participate in the modern payment ecosystem,” said FutureBank CEO Sergio Barbosa.

Keeping cards top of wallet

“Allowing institutions to instantly produce and activate cards meets the growing expectation of younger and digitally-savvy customers who are used to services on-demand. If customers can open an account on a digital platform in a matter of minutes, why would you make them wait days or sometimes weeks to receive their payment card? Instant issuance is a valuable addition to the customer journey that banks, retailers and MNOs are striving towards. The goal, after all, is to get your customer securely transacting as fast as possible,” Barbosa shares.

“Banks and fintechs globally reach out to Paymentology with a consistent problem statement: They are under pressure to keep up with more agile competitors who are developing products faster and are capturing market share. Examples include payment via mobile phone, wearable payment devices, targeted loyalty programmes and digital onboarding.

Image: Paymentology’s David Oppenheim

The partnership with FutureBank will facilitate digital first product rollouts on top of existing core architecture, reducing cost, complexity and risk on their path to modernisation,” said Paymentology ecosystem partnerships global head David Oppenheim.

The two companies have already tested their partnership on several customers in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, including the launch of a neobank and the modernisation of an existing legacy bank.

Article source:

  1. TechCentral: https://techcentral.co.za/futurebank-paymentology-partnership-glopr/236862/ [13 Dec 2023]

FutureBank and Direct Transact partner for embedded finance in sub-Saharan Africa

Image: Christo Davel

Direct Transact, the largest independent provider of banking and payment solutions for banks and brands in South Africa, has teamed up with open banking platform and fintech marketplace FutureBank to accelerate its technology platform capabilities further. The partnership will facilitate the rapid roll-out of embedded finance in sub-Saharan Africa.

Embedded finance is the fintech practice of building financial products or services into non-financial brand customer experiences. It takes collaboration between the brand on whose platform the financial moment is offered, and the financial institutions and fintech partners who enable the financial feature to make it happen. Classic examples of embedded finance include perfectly timed insurance, quick payment solutions, or buy-now-pay-later offers during online checkout.

Launched in 2002, Direct Transact was the first provider of outsourced core banking capabilities and financial services software to more than 70% of South African banks. It currently processes over R40 billion monthly. In addition to being a technology enablement partner to banks, it also helps brands launch financial products and solutions via alliance banking and embedded finance.FutureBank specialises in providing great abstraction layers to banks and financial technology companies

FutureBank, meanwhile, is an open banking platform and fintech marketplace that helps banks, brands and fintechs globally integrate new banking and financial service products into their core systems and deploy them at scale with minimal cost and effort.

“Direct Transact believes modern and intelligent banking should be able to plug in and configure composable solutions from exciting third parties who bring new user-friendly elements to the banking experience. FutureBank is a niche fintech company that helps us further enhance our existing capabilities,” said Direct Transact chief commercial officer Christo Davel.

“FutureBank specialises in providing great abstraction layers to banks and financial technology companies. Their technology speeds up and simplifies fintech integrations between banks and third-party fintech partners. Thanks to our partnership, Direct Transact’s interface layer is now even simpler, allowing faster connection.”

Primed for growth

Direct Transact’s work with FutureBank has ideally positioned the company to address the rapidly growing embedded finance market in sub-Saharan Africa. The latest collaboration between the two companies builds on an established relationship and a shared vision for regional innovation and growth.

Accenture analysis has shown that embedded finance for the small and medium-sized business sector is set to boom and could capture up to 26% ($32 billion) of the global SME banking revenue by 2025.

“Embedded finance epitomises the collaborative innovation that African organisations thrive on. It allows multiple players to combine their strengths, allowing a whole new generation of nimble new players to leverage the foundations of established banks to reach new customers with relevant products and services.

“The partnership between Direct Transact and FutureBank will facilitate the rapid growth of embedded finance offerings, helping companies reach the scale they need to ensure sustainable growth,” said Sergio Barbosa, Global Kinetic enterprise software development house CIO and CEO of its open banking platform, FutureBank.

However, without the necessary technical expertise, delivering embedded finance services is not simple.

Image: Sergio Barbosa

“To seamlessly embed financial capabilities is technically complex, made more difficult by many banks’ rigid legacy systems. While secure and compliant, Direct Transact’s systems and technology are flexible. And, after our deployment with FutureBank, Direct Transact can rapidly offer more of its capabilities within its customers’ existing technology stacks. This means banks, payment providers and brands can rapidly design and launch new and exciting embedded finance offerings to their clients – solving today’s strategic and client needs and building tomorrow’s solutions today,” Davel said.

The nature of the partnership between FutureBank and Direct Transact promises a bright future for both organisations when it comes to embedded finance in the sub-Saharan region.

“Compatibility with Direct Transact’s core banking capabilities enables us to offer additional capabilities around core banking in the sub-Saharan market.  Our partner network is extensive and can benefit from our interoperability and partnership with Direct Transact as the leading core banking provider in the region,” Barbosa said.

The partnership also means FutureBank can offer Direct Transact’s robust, comprehensive core banking capabilities to their clients, who are notable players in the global fintech ecosystem. It’s a match made in fintech heaven,” Davel said.

Article source:

  1. TechCentral: https://techcentral.co.za/direct-transact-futurebank-embedded-kinpr/236392/ [05 Dec 2023]

FutureBank and IDVerse Partner to Fight Cybercrimes

London, UK – 5 September 2023  – The customisable and compliant embedded finance platform, FutureBank, has partnered with world-leading digital ID verification company IDVerse (previously known as OCR Labs Global) to further its digital transformation and accelerate customer onboarding through swift and secure digital identity verification (IDV).

Through this partnership, new FutureBank customers can access the IDVerse software as part of its offering. IDVerse customers looking for a middleware platform can connect their API credentials to benefit from FutureBank’s platform. 

Bank technology is clunky and rigid, and it needs forward-thinking technology partners to stay up to date. Middleware platforms offer technological flexibility that banks and fintechs can’t build themselves, thus preventing downstream fraud and supporting the full customer journey. 

FutureBank is an integration platform for core banking providers that embeds finance services. It acts as the glue between a bank and a third-party provider they want to integrate with. It helps banks and fintechs launch new products better, faster and more securely.

IDVerse is the most certified Identity Service Provider (IDSP), with 20 certifications for the Right to Work, Right to Rent and Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) from the United Kingdom’s Digital Identity & Attributes Trust Framework (DIATF). 

Through its Bias-Tested AI tested technology, IDVerse is pioneering the use of generative AI to train deep neural network systems to protect against discrimination on the basis of race, age and gender.

Sergio Barbosa, CEO at FutureBank, said, “Generative AI is breeding many different fraud types. With ChatGPT, fraudsters can create very authentic documents and profiles for people at a low cost. We were impressed by IDVerse’s capability to stop fake IDs from making their way through the system and its fully automated approach that works better than humans.”

Barbosa continued, “Cybercrime is currently the third biggest economy in the world, and predictions show that in the next 18 months, it will be the biggest economy in the world. We are delighted to partner with IDVerse to protect our customers from unwanted attacks.”

Russ Cohn, General Manager EMEA at IDVerse, added, “It is already very easy to create a realistic fake person in as little as 15 minutes using online tools readily available on the internet. Synthetic media is becoming the new tool of choice for fraudsters looking to make money. We estimate that there is a 400 percent year-on-year increase in the use of deepfakes in creating fake identities.”

Cohn continues, “Our fully automated identity verification system can offer FutureBank customers a reliable solution to spot deepfake accounts that fraudsters are increasingly trying to create. IDVerse’s cutting-edge technology maps the facial genome and can detect below-the-skin activities, such as a heartbeat changing the colour of the skin, which the human eye cannot see. These natural yet invisible patterns from faces help verify that an image is of a real human, not a deepfake.”

For more information, visit www.idverse.com

Data sources and PR mentions

  1. https://www.statista.com/chart/28878/expected-cost-of-cybercrime-until-2027/
  2. IDVerse Article
  3. FFNews
  4. FinancialIT
  5. Finextra Press Release

The Disruptive Force of Fintech: How will these Top 5 Trends evolve in 2023?

The Disruptive Force of Fintech: How will these Top 5 Trends evolve in 2023?

The finance industry has undergone a major transformation over the last decade, driven by the rise of fintech. But are these trends here to stay, or just a passing fad? Let's dive into the top five fintech trends and examine their future potential:

  1. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning - AI and ML have been hailed as the future of finance, but are they really? While these technologies can automate certain tasks, they still have limitations and can make mistakes. It is predicted that AI and ML will play a major role in finance, but it will not fully replace human decision-making. For example, in recent years, several banks have implemented AI-powered chatbots to provide 24/7 customer service, but human oversight is still required to resolve more complex issues. Moreover, according to a recent survey, about 60% of consumers trust human customer service representatives more than AI-powered chatbots.
  1. Digital Payments - The convenience factor is driving the shift towards digital payments, but will this trend continue to grow? It is predicted that digital payments will continue to increase in popularity, with more people valuing the speed and ease of digital transactions over traditional methods. For example, mobile payment platforms such as Venmo and PayPal have seen rapid growth in recent years, and there is rumour of Twitter becoming a payments platform.  More businesses are now accepting digital payments as a result of the pandemic. In addition, the rise of contactless payments, enabled by near field communication (NFC) technology, has further fuelled the growth of digital payments.
  1. Blockchain - Blockchain-powered platforms and ecosystems are often touted as the solution to all financial problems.  We are through the trough of disillusionment, but we are yet to see wide adoption. It is predicted that blockchain will see widespread use in finance in the coming years, as the technology matures and more people become familiar with it. Several countries are exploring the use of blockchain for central bank digital currencies, which could potentially revolutionize the financial system. Moreover, blockchain has the potential to increase transparency and security in financial transactions, as well as reduce the costs associated with intermediaries.  As we have seen with recent events like what happened to FTX for example, the volatility in this space is alarming to many individuals and institutions.
  1. Open Banking - Open Banking has the potential to change the financial landscape, but will it actually be able to deliver on its promises? It is predicted that open banking will continue to grow, as more financial institutions open up their data to third-party providers and consumers become more comfortable sharing their financial information. In recent years, several countries have implemented open banking initiatives, allowing consumers to easily access and compare financial products and services from multiple providers. Additionally, open banking has the potential to increase competition and drive innovation in the financial industry, as well as provide consumers with more control over their financial data.
  1. Neobanks - Neobanks have disrupted the traditional banking industry, but are they here to stay? It is predicted that neobanks will continue to challenge traditional banks and win over consumers, but it remains to be seen whether they will be able to compete in the long run with established players in finance. For example, neobanks such as Monzo and N26 have attracted millions of customers with their mobile-first approach and low fees, and traditional banks are starting to respond with their own digital-only offerings. However, the challenge for neobanks will be to maintain their growth and compete with traditional banks, who have the advantage of established customer bases and established trust in the market.

The fintech industry is full of potential, but also full of uncertainties. These 5 trends are set to create the foundation of our future financial landscape, but in 2023 and beyond we will see them disappear into the background for most individuals and institutions with their convergence into, and the rise of, embedded finance.  There will be consolidation in the banking ecosystem across traditional banks over the next few years as they compete to remain relevant, and brands will begin to claim ownership of the financial data associated with individuals and institutions.  The individuals and institutions in turn will relish in the convenience of a world where they don’t really need to understand the intricacies of the financial ecosystem, they can just focus on doing whatever it is that they’re doing.  

Infographic on the Top 5 Fintech Trends in 2023

Brainstorm Feature: Finding the data to reach Africa’s unbanked

Article Source: Brainstorm October 2022 - ITWeb | Featuring Sergio Barbosa, CEO, FutureBank

Transforming the Know Your Customer verification process will unlock countless opportunities for Africa’s unbanked to participate in the digital economy.

Sergio Barbosa is featured in ITWeb's Brainstorm Publication by Joanne Carew (14/10/22).

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