Bank Zero announced it has been integrated with the national payments system of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and is set to begin trial runs in preparation for the launch of its banking platform.
The bank’s CFO, Liné Wiid, said that settling directly with the SARB rather than through a sponsoring bank allows Bank Zero to control its own payments value chain and nurture a “savings culture”.
“Creating a savings culture means shifting mindsets from ‘I want a car; I want expensive credit now’ to ‘I have a savings goal; I’ll buy a car later’,” Wiid said.
Bank Zero CEO Yatin Narsai said that the alpha testing milestone is a major achievement, with most institutions investing billions simply to reach this stage.
The bank’s alpha testing phase will see a small team validating the bank’s end-to-end live systems and processes.
Bank Zero said its approach to building a bank uses precise, “laboratory-style testing” and focuses on a number of key areas.
These focus areas include building an integrated banking app, testing customer experience and on-boarding, completing disaster recovery tests, and complying with all regulatory reporting as required by the SARB.
