BL Premium reports that the number of Standard Bank’s cashless branches in SA has increased to 65 as the group continues to reshape its branch infrastructure in its biggest market due to a rise in digital payments in Africa’s largest economy.
Group CEO Sim Tshabalala said the lender has largely moved the handling of cash out of branches and into ATM and cash centre infrastructure. “For example, 84% of cash deposits and 97% of cash withdrawals are now done outside branches. Of course, this has allowed the number and average size of traditional branches to be reduced. We currently have 491 branches in SA, of which 65 are cashless. Also, we have ramped up alternative and cashless points of representation like kiosks inside retailers,” Tshabalala indicated.
The reshaping of the group’s branch network has seen its mix of front-line staff pivot towards more multi-skilled consultants rather than traditional cash tellers, with the number of cash consultants in branches half that of 2020. Banks are said to prefer consumers to use digital means to make payments as this enables them to gather data they need to inform them on consumer behaviour and in turn which products to take to market.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Kabelo Khumalo at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
Get other news reports at the SA LabourNews home page