By Mudiwa Gavaza
The growth of Capitec’s physical branch network is not slowing down its use of tech, with the lender reporting that two-thirds of interactions at those locations are being conducted through electronic terminals.
South Africa’s banks have largely been shutting down physical branch locations in recent years, spurred by the Covid-19 pandemic, changes in technology and shifting consumer behaviour. However, Capitec is maintaining its large physical branch network.
While Capitec has invested in its 854 locations that service 25-million customers, it has also ploughed its financial resources into technology platforms.
According to Blessing Mgaga, executive head of retail client experience delivery at Capitec, the bank’s self-service terminals have evolved and now handle more than 60% of branch interactions. This translates to about 5- to 6-million customer interactions each month.
These terminals allow customers to perform simple tasks, such as printing statements or UIF documents and proof of accounts, freeing up consultants for complex issues.
The bank has recently introduced new hardware that Mgaga said allows for “bottom-up” redesigned interactions, including ID applications.
Elsewhere, Capitec has been incorporating more generative artificial intelligence (AI) functionality into its customer service processes as a way to help agents resolve customer queries faster.
“The hype around AI has settled; now it’s about the practical implementation. We’re continuously using machine learning to enhance and expand our offering,” he said.
The use of AI and other technologies in the customer services or business process outsourcing arena has grown in recent years. So much so that interacting with automated chatbots to deal with certain customer queries has become commonplace in South Africa.
Local banks are still sceptical about giving AI agents and related platforms full autonomy.
This will likely change in the future, but more testing is needed for the full set of risks to hold up to the muster of South Africa’s highly regulated and often conservative banking industry.
Mgaga said Capitec is currently focusing on AI applications for its backend systems before rolling out full generative AI features directly to clients in its banking app.
“We haven’t really gone to the place where it’s fully in front of the client in our app... but if I think about support services now, we have the ability to enable our clients to ask certain questions and get summary information.”
He explained that the goal is for AI to become “relevant, relatable and supportive” to clients rather than just a replacement for interaction.
Mgaga envisions AI analysing transactional history in the app to “anticipate the future needs of clients” and provide tailored educational tools and financial advice.
“This is just one of the use cases we’re starting to work on, and I’m excited about the future of where this takes us. We’ll see more and more value as we go on, and I think clients will be better off for it,” he said.
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