Fitch downgrades
SA banks
FOLLOWING ITS DOWNGRADE of South Africa’s sovereign
rating, Fitch Ratings downgraded the viability ratings of
South Africa’s major banks in January. Absa, FirstRand,
Investec, Nedbank, Standard Bank and their respective
rated holding companies had their ratings reduced by
one notch.
‘The sovereign rating is now effectively acting as a cap on
these banks’ viability ratings,’ Fitch stated.
FirstRand, Nedbank and Standard Bank had their viability
ratings and long-term issuer default ratings downgraded
from BBB+ to BBB, while Investec’s issuer default rating and
viability rating were both downgraded from BBB to BBB-.
Fitch said that the downgrade reflected the banks’
concentration in South Africa, a high proportion of liquid
assets invested in government securities, and a weakening
operating environment.
In December, Moody’s credit rating agency lowered
its outlook for South African banks ‘from “stable” to
negative’, citing their overexposure to government debt,
a deteriorating economic outlook and liquidity challenges.
Moody’s described the operating environment for South
Africa’s banks as “challenging”.
New mobile
banking platform for
low-end phones
STANDARD BANK HAS PARTNERED with global business management software leader SAP
to launch a platform that will enable users of low-end mobile phones in South Africa to open
accounts using their devices.
The AccessAccount platform aims to allow the unbanked to easily open accounts and monitor
their balances. ‘This innovative banking project is radically affecting the lives of thousands
people for the better,’ said Pfungwa Serima, CEO of SAP Africa. ‘We look forward to seeing
the continued success of the implementation across the continent.’ Mobile banking agents
will sign up users through a portable device that takes ‘only a few minutes’ to open accounts.
Customers can then perform person-to-person transfers, purchase prepaid electricity and
airtime through their phones and deposit and withdraw money from informal traders signed
up with Standard Bank. ‘We have built an entirely new IT system and platform that spans
across all the bank’s offerings in our “Inclusive Banking” business,’ said Peter Wharton
Hood, deputy chief executive of Standard Bank Gro