Bank Zero, the financial services venture of ex-First National Bank CEO Michael Jordaan, has started trial runs in South Africa.
The bank has tapped IBM to provide an open-source based banking platform. Its core apps will operate on IBM LinuxONE.
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IBM South Africa country GM Hamilton Ratshefola said: “For IBM, this represents an enormous opportunity to power this unique and fresh approach to banking.
“IBM is uniquely equipped to help Bank Zero with this mission, in a way that is secure, reliable and scaled to grow with Bank Zero as customers adopt their services.”
Bank Zero also teamed up with Mastercard and is currently working on offering a new generation of card.
The bank secured a licence in August this year and the following month integrated with the national payments systems of the South African Reserve Bank.
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By GlobalDataIt expects to start operations next year, following the “alpha testing” phase. The trial phase will involve validation of the bank’s end-to-end live systems and processes.
“In a digitally connected world, employing cutting-edge technologies and delivering state-of-the-art security is at the core of innovation. As we focus on delivering a robust banking value proposition to our customers, collaborating with IBM will ensure that we have a secure, leading platform from which to deliver banking services,” Jordaan stated.
