South African banks now come to you
Traditional banks are bringing branches closer to their clients to better compete with innovative new digital players.
Online shopping and food delivery apps have boomed in recent years by bringing products straight to customers’ doorsteps — greatly enhancing convenience and saving users’ time.
Innovative banks like TymeBank, Discovery Bank, and Bank Zero have taken from this trend by offering banking services closer to customers.
For example, Bank Zero allows users to create an account and get a bank card through its mobile app without ever visiting a branch.
Any additional services, like cash withdrawals, can be accessed at tills and kiosks in grocery stores.
Capitec has also launched a feature in its mobile app that issues clients with a virtual card when creating a bank account. This card lets customers perform online transactions immediately.
TymeBank lets users create an account and print their card on the spot at one of its kiosks located at Pick ‘n Pay stores,
These approaches add convenience for customers while also bringing down operational costs for the banks.
Compare this with the arduous process of opening a bank account at Absa, FNB, Standard Bank, or Nedbank, and it’s easy to understand why older banks are being left behind.
Although some big South African banks have been reducing their branches over the last decade to adapt to less foot traffic, the new players effectively operate without a traditional branch network.
Several of the country’s prominent banks previously told MyBroadband they believed customers still regarded personal contact with a banker as an essential feature of effective banking services.
A comparison between branch networks in 2020 and 2021 showed that FNB and Standard Bank had increased their footprints slightly, while Absa and Nedbank had a net drop in branches.
Nevertheless, the convenience offered by the digital players has forced at least one of these banks to look into an alternative way to reach customers.
Absa launched a portable bank pilot more than nine years ago, with an extensive containerised system that could be up and running less than 24 hours after deployment.
It used the mobile bank in an Eastern Cape trial as a temporary solution where one of its brick-and-mortar branches was destroyed by a fire.
Absa’s original portable bank system
Absa deployed similar mobile branches alongside the other major banks following the July 2021 unrest in KwaZulu-Natal, which saw numerous branches and shopping complexes with banking facilities damaged.
But the bank has moved beyond using such branches only for emergencies.
It showcased its latest portable bank branch at the Afrikaans arts festival KKNK.
Absa’s Tshiwela Mhlantla told Rapport that the more compact branch proved very popular with festivalgoers.
The branch-on-a-trailer differs from the typical portable ATMs you would see at festivals or events because it includes a section where a banker can assist customers with a much more comprehensive range of services.
This includes cash withdrawals and deposits, the ability to open a bank account, and a new card issuing service that takes just 10 minutes.
Absa can roll out the branch to rural areas such as farms for workers who cannot go to the city often, taxi ranks with lots of foot traffic from people on their daily commute, and universities where students need to open accounts at the start of their studies.
Business Day reported that Absa hopes the mobile branches could help it open up to 100,000 new bank accounts every month.
Nedbank also told Rapport it was looking into a similar branch-on-a-trailer setup to reach its customers.
The bank currently has panel vans fitted with ATMs which it rolls out to festivals and where its brick-and-mortar branches have been damaged by natural disasters, crime, or unrest.
FNB also has 13 mobile bank branches, but these more closely resemble the older branches rolled out by Absa in 2013.
Three of these branches are still operating in KwaZulu-Natal following July’s looting, as the branches they have replaced have not yet returned to operation.
Below are more images of Absa’s new portable branch.
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