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Purpose: This paper explores the historical aspects of customer due diligence and related anti-money laundering measures in South Africa. Customer due diligence measures are usually employed to ensure that financial institutions know their customers well by assessing them against the possible risks they might pose such as fraud, money laundering, Ponzi schemes and terrorist financing. Accordingly, customer due diligence measures enable banks and other financial institutions to assess their customers before they conclude any transactions with them. Customer due diligence measures that are utilised in South Africa include identification and verification of customer identity, keeping records of transactions concluded between customers and financial institutions, ongoing monitoring of customer account activities, reporting unusual and suspicious transactions and risk assessment programmes. The Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001 (FICA) as amended by the Financial Intelligence Centre Amendment Act 1 of 2017 (Amendment Act) is the primary statute that provides for the adoption and use of customer due diligence measures to detect and combat money laundering in South Africa. Prior to the enactment of the FICA, several other statutes were enacted in a bid to prohibit money laundering in South Africa. Against this background, the article provides a historical overview analysis of these statutes to, inter alia, explore their adequacy and examine whether they consistently complied with the Financial Action Task Force Recommendations on the regulation of money laundering. Design/methodology/approach: The paper provides an overview analysis of the historical aspects of the regulation and use of customer due diligence to combat money laundering in South Africa. In this regard, a qualitative research method as well as the doctrinal research method are used. Findings: It is hoped that policymakers and other relevant persons will adopt the recommendations provided in the paper to enhance the curbing of money laundering in South Africa. Research limitations/implications: The paper does not provide empirical research. Practical implications: The paper is useful to all policymakers, lawyers, law students and regulatory bodies, especially, in South Africa. Social implications: The paper advocates for the use of customer due diligence measures to curb money laundering in the South African financial markets and financial institutions. Originality/value: The paper is original research on the South African anti-money laundering regime and the use of customer due diligence measures to curb money laundering in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The banking sector has undergone considerable changes since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) as the countries no longer operate in isolation, owing to globalization (Viegi, 2008). In the past, banks were easily recognizable as a brand. Today brand bank is wanning, and benefits from the brand are wanning. Using South Africa's banking market as a unit of analysis this paper examines whether the emergency of Non-Banking Financial Institutions is threatening the brand of a bank. Through a guided questioner, this paper asserts that the emergency of Non-banking institutions has eroded the banks' brand and has impacted on patronage and loyalties to traditional models of banking. Based on Cronbach's alpha criterion, results from the study reveal that the survey instrument used to collect data from participants was statistically reliable. Overall, results on frequency statistics and factor loadings computed based on the exploratory factor analysis technique reveal that respondents largely concurred with the assertion that brand bank is wanning due to the emergence and growth in non-banking financial institutions in South African banking market. The results will benefit banks 's efforts in re-aligning their products with market trends and assist policy makers and regulatory authorities in tracking banking practices in their economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biodiversity of our planet is under threat, with approximately one million species expected to become extinct within decades. The reason: negative human actions, which include hunting, overfishing, pollution, and the conversion of land for urbanisation and agricultural purposes. Despite significant investment from charities and governments for activities that benefit nature, global wildlife populations continue to decline. Local wildlife guardians have historically played a critical role in global conservation efforts and have shown their ability to achieve sustainability at various levels. In 2021, COP26 recognised their contributions and pledged USD 1.7 billion per year; however this is a fraction of the global biodiversity budget available (between USD 124 billion and USD 143 billion annually) given they protect 80% of the planets biodiversity. This paper proposes a radical new solution based on "Interspecies Money", where animals own their own money. Creating a digital twin for each species allows animals to dispense funds to their guardians for the services they provide. For example, a rhinoceros may release a payment to its guardian each time it is detected in a camera trap as long as it remains alive and well. To test the efficacy of this approach, 27 camera traps were deployed over a 400 km 2 area in Welgevonden Game Reserve in Limpopo Province in South Africa. The motion-triggered camera traps were operational for ten months and, using deep learning, we managed to capture images of 12 distinct animal species. For each species, a makeshift bank account was set up and credited with GBP 100. Each time an animal was captured in a camera and successfully classified, 1 penny (an arbitrary amount—mechanisms still need to be developed to determine the real value of species) was transferred from the animal account to its associated guardian. The trial demonstrated that it is possible to achieve high animal detection accuracy across the 12 species with a sensitivity of 96.38%, specificity of 99.62%, precision of 87.14%, F1 score of 90.33%, and an accuracy of 99.31%. The successful detections facilitated the transfer of GBP 185.20 between animals and their associated guardians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on stokvels in contemporary South Africa. It examines the resilience and persistence of mutual aid in a modern setting. It seeks to build a qualitative model to understand the persistence and adaptation of the stokvels in a modern society where banking institutions coexist with informal credit practices. The concept of cooperation is key to the analysis. We argue that stokvels continue to persist in modern society, despite the rise of banking institutions, because of their cooperative nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates domestic risk–return behaviour by focussing on the intertemporal relationship between the conditional domestic equity market premium, its conditional variance and its conditional covariance with the international equity market. The paper finds that the domestic equity market prices in both domestic and international diversification risk. The estimated daily price of domestic variance risk is 0.0279% (EAR: 7.28%) for every one unit of expected domestic variance. The estimated daily price of covariance risk is 0.0111% (EAR: 2.83%) for every unit of expected covariance risk. The representative domestic investor values domestic variance more than covariance risk. The variances of domestic and international equity returns are found to be time-varying, as is the covariance between the two. Evidence is found that the Johannesburg Securities Exchange is not perfectly integrated with the world economy, in an absolute sense. The volatility spillover effect is observed to be both significant and positive. The standard Capital Asset Pricing Model misspecifies the return to domestic risk, biasing the risk–return coefficient upwards. Domestic investors are rewarded for holding internationally diversified portfolios, with an internationally diversified portfolio expected to have an additional daily return of 0.0238% (EAR: 6.29%) for the same level of risk as an entirely domestic equity portfolio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With most central banks now exploring central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), commercial banks should be looking to establish their role in this fast-changing landscape. Among the roughly 90 per cent of the world's central banks pursuing CBDC projects, many, including those in the USA and South Africa, are at the exploratory phase. Others are already managing development projects (the European Union) and pilots (China). The various imperatives behind these initiatives are easy for private actors in these markets to overlook, which sometimes complicates private–public cooperation. However, digitally issued public money stands at the forefront of central bank innovation in the monetary space. This paper reviews why central banks need to explore digital currencies and what questions they should address. It also sheds light on what commercial banks need to consider as they anticipate their stance in the CBDC development process. For both parties, the final section outlines the hurdles to successful CBDC design and rollout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents evidence on productivity growth in the South African banking industry in the last 30 years. The productivity measures we construct shed light on whether the development, increased contribution and influence of the banking industry have translated into lower cost of intermediation and improved productivity and efficiency of the banking sector. Our results show that there is no apparent trend in the unit cost of intermediation in the period 1993 to 2019, which is indicative of constant productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stokvel is a term used in South Africa to denote an informal saving club. A large population of South Africa are members of one stokvel or the other. A large amount of stokvel savings go unaccounted for in the banking sector resulting in distortions in the flow of funds in the banking sector. Thus, the objective of this paper was to establish the presence of a long-run relationship and causality between stokvel savings, money supply, gross domestic product growth rate and banking sector liquidity in South Africa. Applying the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) and Error Correction Model (ECM) techniques on quarterly time series data for the period from 1987Q3 to 2020Q1, the study reveals that in the long run, stokvel savings and money supply were found to have a negative relationship with banking sector liquidity albeit insignificant, however, gross domestic product growth rate exhibited a negative and statistically significant relationship at 1%. The coefficient of the error correction model (ECM(-1)) was, as expected, negative and statistically significant thus providing evidence of a short-run relationship. This study concludes that informal savings must be included in the formal banking services to harness the cash that is held by the informal sector and thus improve banking sector liquidity while minimizing the prevalence of financial disintermediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High expectations are set for Business Intelligence (BI), yet it fails to consistently deliver accordingly: there are numerous reports of BI challenges and failures. Existing approaches to address BI challenges are largely found to be ineffective, highlighting the need for a new approach. This paper examines how BI is perceived or understood and establishes that, firstly, BI is inherently grounded in Goods-Dominant (G-D) logic and secondly, that this can be linked to the challenges that are experienced within BI. A recommendation is made for a shift to Service-Dominant (S-D) logic as a new avenue of exploration to assist in overcoming BI's prevailing challenges. Identifying the inherent G-D logic in BI provides the first step necessary in making this shift. Research findings are based on an interpretive case study of a South African Banking institution as well as a literature review [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the influence of Oil Price Volatility on Banks efficiency within the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) noting the importance of the banking sector efficiency as a tool to ensure financial stability in the region. Being able to measure efficiency levels in banks determines how successful a bank is in managing its operations and achieving its goals. A sample data of 112 banks was selected using the Bank Scope database over the time interval 2003 to 2018 to inspect banking sector relative efficiency following a non-parametric methodology known as Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The paper applies a two-stage model to process the empirical results consisting in using the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to identify the scores of banks efficiency at a first stage (Stage 1) and determining how volatility in Oil price has impact on these scores of efficiencies on a second stage (Stage 2). Findings of the study indicate that the Chinese banking system shows the highest efficiency (90%), followed by the South Africa (87%), followed by the Brazilian and Indian banking system with efficiency level of (77%), the Russian bank industry revealed the lowest efficient banking system with level of efficiency (50%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Economica is the property of University of Banja Luka, Faculty of Economics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: The role of banks to efficiently allocate loans to borrowers is fundamental to a thriving economy. In South Africa this is particularly important, given a challenging socio-economic environment with high levels of unemployment and poor levels of economic growth. This paper investigates the short- and long-run determinants of bank lending behaviour for South African banks. Design/methodology/approach: The study design uses time-series data in an autoregressive distributed-lagged model for the period 1994–2016. Findings: The results indicate that factors such as the volume of deposits and the size of a bank are central to explaining bank lending behaviour in the short run, whereas GDP was found to be the only factor explaining lending behaviour in the long run. Originality/value: The results suggest that the regulatory role of the South African Reserve Bank to ensure financial stability instils trust and certainty in the banking industry and is reflected in the short-run implications to ensure that large banks are stable and depositors avoid a run on a bank's deposits. This is particularly relevant if the long-run trajectory of the economy is one of sustainable economic growth. Furthermore, although the reserve bank is constantly under threat of not having a pro-growth policy agenda, the results support its role to promote confidence and trust through its financial stability policy. Should confidence in the financisal system not be present, it is argued that systemic risk will be exacerbated through the potential failure of large banks and depositors withdrawing their funds through a run on the bank in the short run. Where financial stability is present, market participants will be more inclined to make deposits into the large South African banks, given the trust and certainty within the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Global Journal of Economics & Business is the property of Refaad for Studies, Research & Development and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Socioeconomica is the property of Scientific Society Akroasis and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The main aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of different leadership styles on the performance of organisations in the banking sector of South Africa. The outcomes are expected to be utilised in order to construct leadership development initiatives, which will facilitate the cultivation of leadership competencies that contribute to the success of a company. The research conducted a synthesis of 50 empirical studies through the use of secondary source content analysis. A one-sample t-test was used to assess the presence of a statistically significant association between organisational success and a manager's lifestyle. A unidirectional analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to determine the correlation between different leadership styles and organisational performance. The Pearson's Correlation Coefficient was employed to examine the correlation between leadership styles and organisational performance. Research has confirmed that Transformational leadership has a positive impact on financial success, customer satisfaction, and staff engagement. Transformational leaders foster innovation and exceptional performance through their inspiring vision and tailored assistance. Transactional leadership ensures operational stability and adherence to regulations, but it does not have a substantial impact on staff engagement and innovation. Servant leadership emphasises the establishment of a supportive work environment through the enhancement of staff morale and customer service. An optimal approach for enhancing organisational performance in the South African Banking sector is to adopt a well-rounded strategy that incorporates transformational, transactional, and servant leadership principles. The Transformational leadership style has been determined to be the most effective in the banking sector, as it has shown the highest improvement in organisational performance. Banks executives and managers should consider embracing transformational leadership, cultivating innovation, and allocating resources towards staff development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyse cyberfraud in the South African banking industry using a multiple regression approach and develop a predictive model for the estimation and prediction of financial losses due to cyberfraud. Design/methodology/approach: To mitigate the occurrence of cyberfraud, this study uses the multiple regression approach to correlate the relationship between financial loss and cyberfraud activities. The cyberfraud activities in South Africa are classified into three, namely, digital banking application, online and mobile banking fraud. Secondary data that captures the rate of cyberfraud occurrences within these three major categories with their resulting financial losses were used for the multiple regression analysis that was carried out in the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS, 2022 environment). Findings: The results obtained indicate that the South African financial institutions still incur significant financial losses due to cyberfraud perpetration. The two main independent variables used to estimate the magnitude of financial loss in the South Africa's banking industry are online (internet) banking fraud (X2) and mobile banking fraud (X3). Furthermore, a multiple regression model equation was developed for the prediction of financial loss as a function of the two independent variables (X2 and X3). Practical implications: This study adds to the literature on cyberfraud mitigation. The findings may promote the combat against cyberfraud in the South Africa's financial institutions. It may also assist South Africa's financial institutions to predict the financial loss that financial institutions can incur over time. It is recommended that South Africa's financial institutions pay attention to these two key variables and mitigate any associated risks as they are crucial in determining their profitability. Originality/value: Existing literature indicated significant financial losses to cyberfraud perpetration without establishing any relationship between the magnitude of losses incurred and the prevalent forms of cyberfraud. Thus, the novelty of this study lies in the analysis of cyberfraud in the South African banking industry using a multiple regression approach to link financial losses to the perpetration of the prevalent forms of cyberfraud. It also develops a predictive model for the estimation and projection of financial losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the impact of social media as a strategic approach to corporate communication when handling crises at Bank X in the Gauteng province of South Africa. The study had three over-arching objectives; to determine the challenges that are encountered when handling crises about communication at Bank X, to determine if the leadership has the willingness to change their approach when formulating the strategy; to determine if social media has an impact on strategy formulation of crisis communication at Bank X; and lastly to make recommendations to Bank X's leadership on how to incorporate the social media component as a communication approach to effectively handle crises. This research followed a qualitative research approach through one-on-one Microsoft Teams in-depth interviews with 10 participants. The study, through the analysis of the primary data, secondary data, and literature reviews, underpins and supports that there is an opportunity for Bank X to incorporate social media as a strategic element to the crisis communication strategy. The organisation's crisis communication strategy needs to incorporate social media from a strategic perspective for it to be ahead of the curve when a crisis emerges online. The implications for Bank X are a lesson in the evolution of technology in the communication space and how imperative it is for the bank to evolve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the problem of conduct-risk measurement for banks, using South Africa as an example of a developing market. Conduct risk is a new and complex phenomenon in global financial services and could negatively impact various stakeholders. There are concerns about new regulations and potential misconduct fines affecting profitability and sustainability for banks. While presenting a serious problem, especially in developing markets, with the added challenge of financial inclusion, conduct risk and its measurement have not been researched sufficiently. If the measurement problem could be solved, the management could be facilitated. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a literature review, existing surveys and new interviews, a best-practice proposal for measuring conduct risk was developed. The approach was exploratory and inductive and added primary insights. Findings: Measuring concepts like conduct is a global challenge. This aside, South African banking customers are concerned about fraud and safety and administrative service hassles, rather than conduct in the regulatory sense. Best-practice measurement must account for these findings by working with a scoring for behavioural, organisational/procedural and perception indicators and with suggestions for specific surveys. Research limitations/implications: Analysing the data measured and deciding what action should be taken if conduct risk is detected could be considered for additional research. Practical implications: South African banks are guided in measuring a difficult and unique concept at a time of regulatory change, stakeholder pressures and limited existing knowledge. Originality/value: The authors believe this is the first study on a critical and new challenge in banking risk measurement in a developing market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the nuanced relationship between sustainable investments, particularly from entities such as the United States (US), and their impact on unemployment trends in South Africa, contributing to discussions on sustainable development goals (SDGs). Utilizing a quantitative approach with data from sources such as the World Bank and Statistics SA, this study employs statistical and econometric methods to assess the socioeconomic consequences of international sustainability funding. The findings indicate a significant link between US sustainable investments and youth unemployment in South Africa, challenging and reinforcing existing research. It depicts that while foreign investments in green initiatives are crucial, they may inadvertently affect local employment negatively. This study recommends policy adjustments in both US and South African legislation to align foreign investments with SDGs, aiming to mitigate youth unemployment. This study underscores the importance of understanding the implications of international funding conditions on local economies, offering insights for policymakers and scholars to develop strategies that leverage sustainable investments for economic growth and employment opportunities. This study provides a fresh perspective on the dynamics between international investments and local unemployment, offering valuable insights for economic planning and policy formulation in South Africa and across other African nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to estimate and compare the efficiency of the four largest banks in South Africa. The total factor productivity of the four largest banks was estimated and the multilateral total factor productivity indexes of the four banks compared. Nedbank had the highest productivity level, followed by Standard, ABSA and FRB. All four banks experienced various strategic changes during the sample period (1994 to 2010), as well as considerable changes in the banking arena in South Africa. The changes in the banking arena included the first substantial rewrite of the Banks Act and Regulations since 1990, following the adoption of the international guidelines known as Basel II which took effect on 1 January, 2008, the introduction of the National Credit Act in 2007, as well as the financial sector charter. These changes as well as the strategic changes combined with changes in input volumes resulted in changes in output volumes, which impacted on total factor productivity levels. The result of the Global Financial Crisis is evident in the decline in total factor productivity during the period, 2008-2010. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transactions carried out in the uncertain and impersonal conditions of the Internet require substantial levels of trust. Obtaining customers' trust is therefore imperative to cultivating and nurturing long-lasting and profitable customer-firm relationships in online environments. Surprisingly however, there is currently a dearth of research on the effects of trust on customers' acceptance of e-commerce in Africa. This paper investigates the effects of the components of institutional trust on perceptions of ease of use and usefulness, as well as attitudes towards use on customers' intentions to use Internet banking services. An integrated research model based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was built and empirically tested using data obtained from 390 retail banking customers in South Africa. The results show that the proposed model possesses high explanatory capabilities as it could explain 61 per cent of the variance in Internet banking use intentions. The study results further show that situational normality is neither a salient determinant of customers' attitudes towards use of internet banking nor their use intention, whereas structural assurance is. By examining the effects of institutional trust on the TAM's variables, especially in a developing African country, this study does not only provide insights for managers in their efforts to achieve rapid adoption of Internet banking, but also contributes to the literature on the topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of cyberfraud in the South African banks with the aim to provide recommendations to effectively mitigate it. Design/methodology/approach: The study uses a qualitative approach involving the use of structured questionnaires. The questionnaires were made available to the staff of 17 licensed banks in South Africa who deal with management, operation, administration and banking services. Two hypotheses were formulated and non-parametric statistical analyses involving the use of Chi-square test, Fischer's Exact test and Spearman's correlation were carried out. The two hypotheses formulated were tested to draw a conclusion. Findings: The results obtained indicate that the impact of cyberfraud in the South African banking industry is highly significant and has affected the reputation of some of the banks. This calls for the need to review the diverse ways of curbing cyberfraud to lessen their impact and that of associated fraud risks on the banking operation. Practical implications: This study provides an analysis on the relationship cyberfraud occurrences and the reputation of South African banks. The implementation of the recommendations may reinforce the existing security measures in the fight against cyberfraud. Originality/value: The novelty of this study lies in the fact that the assessment of the impact of cyberfraud on the banking industry in South Africa has not been sufficiently highlighted by the existing literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the level of effectiveness of the anti-fraud technologies employed by the South African banking industry for cyberfraud mitigation. Design/methodology/approach: This research employed a qualitative research design involving a purposive sampling method. Primary data was collected from the key organisational staff across the 17 licensed commercial banks in South Africa via the use of structured questionnaires. In particular, these were experts involved in combating fraud and taking managerial decisions regarding the use of anti-fraud technologies for cyberfraud mitigation. Non-parametric statistical analyses were carried out from the responses obtained. Findings: The results obtained indicated that the combination of internal and external anti-fraud technologies such as filtering software, firewalls, encryption, continuous auditing, discovery sampling, virus protection, financial ratios, digital analysis and data mining may have a positive effect on cyberfraud mitigation. These technologies are employed mostly to ensure effective internal control systems capable of minimising cyberfraud. In addition, the anti-fraud technologies employed in the South African banking industry may also be effective in the mitigation of cyberfraud, although significant cases of cyberattacks were reported by the respondents. Practical implications: The study recommends investment in more digital and emerging technologies and the development of human capacities to effectively deploy them in the combat against cybercrime. Originality/value: The novelty of this study lies in the identification of the type of anti-fraud technologies/software employed by the South African banking industry and their level of effectiveness or success rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The access to safe and affordable housing forms part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as encapsulated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). With a large proportion of citizens migrating to urban areas, the need for a model to address the low-cost housing market is imperative. South Africa is not insulated from this challenge. It is crucial for the South African government to address this challenge given the UNDP mandate and the country's historical background. Consequently, this paper analyses the challenges of low-cost housing financing and delivery in South Africa for both the subsidised and gap market, using a policy review approach. Two major challenges are identified, namely affordability and the supply of housing units. Blaming a lack of commitment by banks or a lack of capacity of local and provincial government is oversimplifying the matter. Partnerships in the sector must be rebuilt. Government efforts towards integrated sustainable housing delivery depend on improved coordination and alignment with other government departments. Capacity to implement is the key challenge for local and provincial government. Local authorities at the moment often lack the capacity to deal with the complexities of the recently announced 'breaking new ground' (BNG) framework. Utilising available resources efficiently, improving management and monitoring procedures and renewed commitment to accountability and the prevention of corruption is urgently needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to investigate the impact of bank liquidity risk and unemployment on credit risk in the South African banking sector. The panel data analysis approach is used, primarily employing the dynamic generalized method of moments model to examine 12 Banks in South Africa from 2009 to 2019. The results showed that credit risk is positively related to unemployment while, the relationship between credit risk and bank liquidity is negative in line with theory. The findings in this article may enhance bank policy formulation. Since credit and liquidity risk are a major source of risk that banks face especially in terms of stringent regulatory oversight and policy debate, this paper contributes significantly in the methods that central banks need to undertake to monitor and supervise the banking sector on liquidity and credit risks in time of crisis. Furthermore, employment is one critical economic fundamental in developing or emerging markets, the analysis of the nexus between employment and credit risk likewise provided important insights especially in time were the world is facing the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "Customer Selection Criteria: Islamic Banks in South Africa" by Moosa and Marx examines the factors that influence customers' selection of Islamic banks in South Africa. The study finds that both male and female customers prioritize religious reasons, Islamic reputation and image, economic and financial reputation, and involvement in the community when choosing a bank. There were no significant differences in selection criteria based on gender. The findings suggest that Islamic banks in South Africa should consider these criteria when designing marketing strategies. However, the study has limitations and further research is needed to understand customer selection criteria in different contexts. [Extracted from the article]

Events that unfolded in the past decade-the ease of new entrants into the South African banking sector, uncertain economic outlook, the 2008 global financial crisis, competition within the South African banking sector, have changed the retail banking landscape in South Africa. Retail banks are under tremendous pressure to realign their banking operations to meet these global challenges. Conforming to the mounting pressure in the South African banking sector, Barclays PLC a major shareholder in Barclays Africa Group now (Absa bank) announced its departure from the bank. A move that made it lose its strategic partner with over 100 years of experience working in Africa. The departure was received with mixed reactions across the banking landscape. Research on customer engagement in South African banking sector is still in its infancy and no study has been undertaken to determine the impact of customer engagement on organisational change communication during episodes of organisational change. To address this research gap, this study seeks to determine the impact of customer engagement on organisational change communication at Absa bank in the greater Durban area. The study adopted a quantitative research paradigm, with a pre-coded structured closed ended questionnaire on a 5-point Likert scale administered to a target population of 650 000 Absa customers in the greater Durban area. Sekaran statistical table was used for sample selection. A sample of 384 customers was selected using convenience sampling a non-probability sampling technique. Some notable conclusions resulted from the extensive statistical analysis, which were also validated by national and international studies undertaken by various researchers, who also demonstrated concordance or discordance with the current findings and were appropriately referenced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of digital financial services such as mobile money has created new frontiers for more people, especially the poor, to participate in the formal payment systems in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Individuals who do not have bank accounts are now able to access financial services and products using technological devices such as mobile phones. In this regard, digital financial services have broadened financial inclusion allowing the poor to participate in financial markets and other formal economic activities which they were unable to access before. In addition, digital financial services represent a broad range of emerging financial technology (fintech) products which could lead to the adoption of digital currencies in many countries, including Zimbabwe and South Africa. These fintech products have been useful channels for the poor to transact and receive money since the outbreak of the coronavirus (covid-19) pandemic. However, the regulation of digital financial services and their products remains problematic in South Africa and Zimbabwe owing, in part, to the absence of statutes that expressly and robustly regulate these services. Furthermore, there is no sufficient policy clarity on the adoption of central bank digital currencies in the aforesaid countries. Accordingly, this article explores the adequacy of the regulatory frameworks and robustness of the enforcement approaches adopted in Zimbabwe and South Africa. This is also done in the context of the African Union (AU)'s Agenda 2063 goal of enabling trade linkages amongst African countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using competitive intelligence (CI) can help developing countries to increase their competitiveness. This paper compares the CI activities between two retail banks in Brazil and South Africa. An e-mail survey in a sample of 2550 employees in a retail bank in Brazil and 847 employees in a retail bank in South Africa was carried out in which CI practices were measured. Respondents in both countries were not very effective to conduct effective CI analysis. Respondents from Brazil consider information on operational risks as the most important while for South African respondents the most important information was on changing regulatory requirements. Although there is a culture of competitiveness in both organizations, it is recommended that if they want to compete effectively in the global economy, they should create CI awareness by organizing CI training sessions for employees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the impact of legacy and credit scores on access to bank credit in South Africa. Typically, credit data focuses on socio-economic information. However legacy variables, factors beyond the control of individuals, have not been well considered. We find that although credit scores clearly influence access to credit, legacy has a statistically significant impact on credit scores and on the amount of credit granted. While these results can be interpreted as bias against those with negative legacy, they can also be explained in terms of information asymmetry and the relative ability to enforce contracts with clients who have positive legacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The financial crisis placed severe pressure on global bank liquidity. Many banks were unable to create sufficient liquidity and had to receive government support or face default. This paper attempts to determine the impact of the financial crisis on liquidity creation within South African banks using a model previously applied to US banks. Four measures of liquidity creation are discussed and applied to data spanning 2004-2009. Although created, liquidity decreases steeply from 2007, liquidity levels in 2009 remain about 45% higher than those of 2004. The four large South African banks created about 80% of the total market liquidity. The authors are aware that the liquidity measures discussed in this paper may not accurately reflect the manner in which South African banks created liquidity before and during the financial crisis as the period under review was characterised by various other factors. These factors include the concurrent rise in securitisation, considerable changes in the South African Reserve Bank's (SARB) stance on monetary policy, historic low-interest rates during the period and severe curtailing of local inter-bank dealing. It remains possible that these factors may have had an impact on the way in which South African banks created and disseminated liquidity. This possibility will be the subject of future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent financial crisis has generated interests in how business cycle affect bank lending to SMEs. However, the effect of the business cycle on lending to SMEs in South Africa after the global financial crisis of 2008 has not been extensively explored. We examine this relationship and its effect in South Africa using Vector Autoregressive modeling. This paper employs monthly data from South Africa Reserve Bank (SARB) for the period 2008 to 2014. We adopt the regulatorydriven capital crunch hypothesis employing monthly data from South African Reserve Bank (SARB). Most of the variables display a very sensitive reaction to the coincident index and capital adequacy shock. The results show strong evidence of procyclicality in SME lending in South Africa. The result shows that business cycle has a positive and significant long-run impact on SME. However, the adjustment coefficient of the business cycle is also positive and significant in the short run. Any case of asset price misalignment or excessive growth boom may ultimately amplify the business cycle. The impulse response test shows the response of bank lending to SMEs to one standard deviation shock of the business cycle is negative and persistent for over 15 quarters before steadying. This result vividly indicates some strong evidence of credit procyclicality between the business cycle and SME in South Africa. Our results have interesting implications for credit availability to SMEs. Our results have several implications. Firstly, these may lead to many banks decreasing lending in bad times when they encounter loan losses and their capitalization drops. This may affect the real economy, as SMEs, which need to finance their small enterprises, may be cut off from credit. There is also a need to promote diversification of financing options for small firms and SMEs by providing various credit supporting policies in South Africa. There is, therefore, an urgent need to boost support to SMEs credit, especially during recessionary periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The South African Reserve Bank (the Bank) turns ninety in 2011, which makes it the fourth-oldest central bank outside Europe. This paper reviews the institutional history of the Bank since 1921. The conclusion is that the institutional structure of the Bank had to be revised periodically to ensure alignment to changing domestic and international developments and challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, only a sixth of the approximately 3 billion impoverished people of working age currently have access to formal financial services, which translates to 17% coverage of the market, leaving 83% under-served. The growth of mobile telephony has been rapid and has extended access well beyond already connected customers in developing countries. This rapid growth offers a new low-cost alternative for financial institutions to make a profit while dealing with small money transfers and payments. Consumers also benefit because they no longer need lime and financial resources to travel to distant banks. The successful deployment of financial services via mobile phones has shown willingness from financial service providers to develop and provide such products. However there are major perceived and real obstacles in the willingness of consumers to adopt these products. Therefore, a need exists to understand customers `reasons behind adopting these services. In this paper the author proposes a model that provides a framework to empirically lest the attitudes of customers toward mobile financial services via a control group conducted in 2008 using Luarn and Lin's (2005) mobile banking adoption model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper utilizes microeconomic theory and a panel data set to assess the impact of product mix and transactions on cost behaviour of bank branches in South Africa over the short and long-term. Estimates of properties of concavity and monotonocity indicate that the cost functions of typical bank branches in South Africa are neither consistent with short-term nor long-term cost-minimizing behaviour. This corroborates earlier findings which indicate that South African banks have low production efficiency and high market power. In addition the cost functions and two production-output type indices indicate that overall, the intermediation-output type mix (foreign exchange and custodial services) has a more significant effect on cost behaviour than the production-output type mix (cheque and deposit accounts). The variety of production-output type services provided by a branch appears to have limited effect on costs. However the financial value of production-output type transactions has an impact on costs while the financial value of intermediation type products does not. Branches that provide intermediation-output type products tend to have higher variable costs - the key determinant of costs is the number of transactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses a Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model to estimate the South African Reserve Bank's (SARB) policy reaction rule. We find that the SARB has a stable rule very much in line with those estimated for Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand. Relative to other emerging economies the policy reaction function of the SARB appears to be much more stable with a consistent anti inflation bias, a somewhat larger weight on output and a very low weight on the exchange rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Econometric estimates of the level of efficiency at bank branches are likely to provide detailed insight into the overall level of efficiency in banking. Therefore this paper uses Bayesian stochastic frontier analysis to assess the production efficiency of 61 bank branches in the nine provinces of the Republic of South Africa. We find that every branch is operating at increasing returns to scale and that the level of production efficiency of bank branches is lower than it could be. We also find that at current levels of output, on average, bank branches can reduce their costs by about 17% if they improve the level of efficiency. In addition, we find that Gauteng Province has the lowest average level of returns to scale, while the Free State Province has the highest average level of the nine provinces. In addition, via estimates of the posterior mean for shares and price elasticities, we find that the price of capital is the largest predicted proportion of costs. These findings suggest that bank branches could also obtain cost reductions by increasing the level of output. Regulatory policy reforms and competitive incentives to enable banks to meet this objective should be encouraged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Banking regulation has developed rapidly over the past few years. There is a growing realization that the regulatory environment must keep pace with globalization and with advances in the financial sector. The 1988 Basel Capital Accord was an attempt to align regulatory capital with the actual underlying risks that banks face, thereby improving the soundness of the banking sector. The New Basel Capital Accord, due for implementation in South Africa in 2007, refines this principle and remedies some of the flaws of the 1988 Accord. This paper considers whether such implementation would have an effect on lending patterns and credit expansion in South Africa. It falls into five parts. Section 1 examines the rationale for the 1988 Basel Accord and outlines the relevant features of the New Accord. Section 2 reviews some of the criticisms directed towards the New Accord, concentrating on the speculation that its implementation will adversely affect bank credit expansion. Section 3 proposes a method of research for assessing the effect of the New Accord in South Africa. Section 4 analyses the trends in South African banking and considers how the New Accord may affect bank behaviour. Section 5 concludes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information about Absa Bank, the leading bank in South Africa and which won the predictive analytics category in the Society for Information Management paper competition. The bank won the category for its business intelligence and data warehousing practice and has been recognized for its Information Management Group for its management and use of information. To further highlight Absa Bank's excellence in information management, its operations were compared with other business intelligence and data warehousing in North America and Europe.

Examines some of the challenges that banks in the South Africa Development Community will have to face in promoting efficiency in payment systems in the millennium. Areas of challenge for sustained efficiency; Importance of the development of the real-time gross settlement systems for large value payments; Transition from paper-based to electronic systems.

In comparison to more common crimes like robbery of cash-in-transit, the idea of bank-related robbery--also known as "associated robbery"--has received very little attention. Even though the crime of bank-associated robbery has seen a large rise in instances and related losses, there is still little to no scientific research on the topic. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate and characterize the modus operandi (MO) employed in bank-related robberies, a crime phenomenon that appears to be specific to South Africa. Eleven participants who are subject matter experts (SMEs) on the topic participated in in-depth qualitative interviews to learn more about the phenomena. According to the report, bank-related robberies fall into two primary categories: robberies that occur before cash deposits and those that occur after cash withdrawals. The police do not categorize bank-related robberies in the same way that the banking industry does, which is the biggest obstacle to preventative efforts. In order to address the aforementioned issue, this study adds to the body of knowledge on the subject in order to inform prevention initiatives. The results also show that carrying a lot of cash increases the risk of becoming a victim of crime for bank customers. Therefore, it is advised that bank customers carry the least amount of cash possible on them to make themselves less appealing to robbers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women shoulder the dual responsibilities of managing their households and professional commitments, which was greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to investigate women's experiences in the workplace during the COVID-19 pandemic, utilising a qualitative approach within an exploratory and interpretivist paradigm. The research adopts a case study methodology focusing on women at different levels of seniority at one of South Africa's leading banks. In-depth interviews were conducted with fifteen women using Microsoft Teams. Thematic analysis was employed to analyse the collected data, resulting in four themes and thirteen sub-themes. The four themes include i) changes in the working model, ii) organisational support, iii) continued career growth, and iv) work-life conflict. Findings indicate that women in the case organisation perceive the remote working model as advantageous, increasing productivity and improved integration of professional and personal roles. The emergence of work-life conflict was noted as a disadvantage to this new model. Although the case organisation provided some support, there is room for improvement. This study offers valuable insights for the financial services sector regarding women's experiences and areas for improvement. The research contributes to the existing body of knowledge and presents a conceptual model for organisations to support female employees working remotely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]