The South African financial services landscape is changing rapidly. With more and more fintech businesses looking to provide better and faster niche payment solutions for their consumers, fintechs need solid and trusted partners to navigate this new, rapidly growing era of digital payments.
Johan Gellatly, Managing Director of Altron FinTech, shares his analysis and vision of the fintech ecosystem, offering keen insights into how South African fintech companies can accelerate industry growth, and why it is necessary.
“The first thing we must acknowledge is that without a sound, reliable banking system, fintech companies cannot operate,” Gellatly says.
“For fintech companies to expand and improve their service offering to consumers, a ‘coming together’ is vital for growth.”
A common goal
Gellatly explains that having a common goal in sight is the only way fintechs can offer their consumers the seamless cost-friendly payment solutions they expect.
“Fintech companies are aware that their consumers are the most tech-savvy that they have ever been.”
“We are in a digital age, which is why Altron FinTech has innovated and expanded its payment solutions so its customers have peace of mind that we have their backs, so to speak, and can operate efficiently and safely,” Gellatly says.
Older generation companies, as Gellatly points out, are beginning to recognise the benefits of fintech agility, having a consumer-centric approach and a fully integrated, system-to-system technology platform.
As for new generation companies, the need for fast, reliable and secure transactional processing has become priority and expected as the norm.
Customer-obsessed environment
“For me, as well as for my employees, it is essential to understand our customers’ needs and develop tailored solutions in this fast-paced ecosystem,” Gellatly says, adding, “and it is because of our meticulous, patient and persistent approach in understanding the core necessities of our customers that our technological development and transaction solutions have proved successful.”
An example of such innovation is our highly sophisticated DebiCheck transaction solution, which offers a resilient switch transactional option by allowing us to switch between sponsor banks in minutes without any transactional downtime should the preferred sponsor bank experience any downtime.
Working together
“However, notwithstanding our great pride in providing solutions to our customers, there is an equally greater need for which I am not just professionally interested but personally; that is, to help contribute to an inclusive and thriving economy,” Gellatly says.
Altron FinTech’s MD shares his vision of exactly how fintechs, banks and regulators can work together for the benefit of society by collectively contributing and encouraging financial inclusion through efficient and innovative payment systems.
This collaboration among regulators, banks and fintechs is, as Gellatly emphasises, the key to building a robust and sustainable economy in which every participant can add value in the market.
“A year and a half ago, Altron FinTech co-founded the Association of South African Payment Providers (ASAPP) in which eight non-banks came together in order to leverage our collective payment solutions lived experience to assist with and support initiatives of the South African Reserve Bank, who are already working towards innovative and creative ways to improve the national payment system with its goal for financial inclusion,” Gellatly says.
The SARB’s payment eco system modernisation initiative is a game changer for South Africa if implemented as envisaged. It will have a profound effect on the existing payment construct.
Trust – the most valuable asset Gellatly believes that the trust created in the payment ecosystem will ultimately lead to solid partnerships with the potential to bring about real change in South Africa.
“Trust, in my experience, is not something you can gain if your goal is for short-term success,” Gellatly says.
“The energy, the resources and the innovative solutions we develop and cultivate take time and consistency. It is only when a customer or partner walks with you, and you with the customer or partner, through every challenging moment that a true partnership can be and is established.”
What this partnership means
Fintechs, in this growing space of digital reformation and change, must, as Gellatly says, focus on the massive benefits such collaboration with regulators and banks can bring about for true financial inclusion and economic strength.
“Fintechs can gain access to regulatory expertise and guidance from regulators,” Gellatly says, “and they can leverage banks’ existing consumer base and infrastructure. Moreover, I strongly believe that fintechs can gain greater exposure to banks’ experience in risk management and compliance.”
Gellatly goes on to explain how banks and regulators can also benefit from this three-partner collaboration.
He says, “Banks can tap into fintechs’ innovation and agility, enhance their digital offerings and competitiveness, as well as learn from fintechs’ customer-centric approaches to solve niche challenges in the payment ecosystem.”
Gellatly believes that Regulators can benefit from this association and stay informed about emerging trends and technologies, develop more effective regulations that balance innovation and risk management, and finally, foster a more stable and secure financial ecosystem to solve unique South African consumer payment challenges.
By working together, Gellatly says that fintechs, banks and regulators can:
- Drive innovation: Collaborate on new products, services and business models.
- Manage risk: Sharing knowledge and best practices, we can help mitigate risks and ensure payment stability.
- Improve customer experience: Develop more user-friendly, efficient and secure financial services.
- Promote financial inclusion: Increase access to cost-friendly financial services for all South Africans.
In South Africa, Gellatly explains that collaboration among fintechs, banks and regulators can help address specific challenges, such as financial exclusion and high fees.
“By working together, I firmly believe that we will create a more inclusive and innovative financial ecosystem, something I am excited and energised to tackle,” Gellatly concludes.