IT News
FNB Banking App Launches on Huawei App Gallery
FNB has confirmed that its banking app is now available for Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) users on the Huawei AppGallery. “We are happy to welcome FNB to the Huawei AppGallery family of apps,” says Likhun Zhao, VP at Huawei Consumer Business Group for Southern Africa. “Given the high smartphone penetration in South Africa banking apps are a key priority for consumers. Huawei has been working hard over the past year to ensure that our loyal customers get all the apps they need, whether they are for entertainment or necessity.” Head of Digital Banking at FNB, Giuseppe Virgillito says, “As South Africa’s Best Digital bank, we have a major focus on customer-centricity and the move to avail our App on more platforms affirms our commitment.” “We believe that this will also improve the...
Why Responsible AI is Built Around Human-Centred Design
Responsible artificial intelligence (AI) provides a framework for building trust in the AI solutions of an organisation, according to a report from Accenture. It is defined as the practice of designing, developing, and deploying AI with good intention to empower employees and businesses, and fairly impact customers and society. In turn, this allows companies to stimulate trust and scale AI with confidence. With technology starting to become commonplace, more organisations around the world are seeing the need to adopt responsible AI. For example, Microsoft relies on an AI, Ethics, and Effects in Engineering and Research (Aether) Committee to advise its leadership on the challenges and opportunities presented by AI innovations. Some of the elements the committee examines is how fairly AI sys...
Top 3 African Countries Hit by Mobile Fraud
Kenya, South Africa and Cameroon are said to be the top three hot spots for mobile fraudsters – according to cybersecurity company, Evina. These African countries face suspicious mobile-based billing transactions of 51%, 30% and 10%, respectively. “Africa’s youthful population that is mostly unbanked and using some 900 million mobile money accounts is particularly hard-hit by professional cybercriminals from around the world, who together cost Africa some $4 billion every year,” says David Lotfi, CEO of Evina. Fraudsters are impacting the long-term sustainability of the digital advertising and mobile payments industries, in particular, by perpetrating thousands of mobile-based fraud attempts daily. Direct Carrier Billing (DCB) where users are billed for purchases directly on their ph...
KaiOS Partners with Cash Crusaders to Launch the DIXON XK1 in South Africa
Cash Crusaders and KaiOS Technologies have launched the DIXON XK1. Priced at R450, this smart feature phone comes with a dual SIM slot which enables users to both maximize coverage and choose the pre and post paid plans that best fit their budget and needs. The DIXON XK1 is said to be targeted at three separate groups: 1. First-time or relatively new internet users who are looking for a safe space and a trusted reference to access vital information, including access to the world’s most popular apps such as Google Assistant, Google Maps, WhatsApp, YouTube, Facebook, and other relevant, local content. 2. The 5 million South Africans who want to use the mobile internet, but are priced out of the smartphone market. 3. People who are looking for a back-up device to switch between operators to g...
Ukheshe to Acquire Digital Payments Platform, Oltio
Ukheshe has entered into an agreement to acquire Oltio, a digital payments platform that supports Masterpass – Mastercard’s QR payment service in South Africa with more than 300,000 merchants and billers. The use of QR codes in South Africa provides merchants of all sizes – from large retailers chains to individual shop owners and street vendors – a fast, secure and inexpensive way to accept payments. This deal is expected to strengthen Ukheshe’s partnership with Mastercard – combining its ability to solve local market pain points with Mastercard’s global scale, technology and payment expertise. Ukheshe will continue to provide the same support to the banks and other service providers that currently offer Masterpass, ensuring business continuity with no impact to consumer...
5G Consumer Market to Reach $31 trillion by 2030
The 5G consumer market is expected to grow to $31 trillion by 2030, according to the Harnessing the 5G Consumer Potential report from Ericsson ConsumerLab. The report estimates that communications service providers (CSPs) could earn $3.7 trillion of that total – a figure that could increase further as new adjacent digital services opportunities arise. It also says that CSPs could generate up to $131 billion by 2030 from digital service revenues alone, by proactively bundling and marketing 5G use cases. About 40% of these revenue projections are attributed to consumer spending on enhanced video, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and cloud gaming over 5G networks. The report projects that AR is likely to drive more than half of all consumer spending on immersive media by 2030 – st...
Tackling Trends and Challenges for Black Friday in 2020
With the Black Friday shopping frenzy around the corner, the digital economy this year is expected to receive an enormous boost as many people will want to avoid crowds and take their shopping online. After a difficult year marked by severe disruptions and decreased demand, businesses will also be relying on this period to make up for losses due to the pandemic. As Black Friday is set to be so different, what can businesses expect to see? The opportunity for increased sales has led to many businesses treating November as ‘Black Friday Month’, giving customers a lot more time to find exactly what they want at the best price. Physical stores may see a lot less foot traffic as customers who opt for the safety and convenience of online retail platforms instead. Adobe predicts that online Blac...
vivo Launches the Y1S Smartphone in South Africa
vivo mobile has partnered with MTN South Africa to exclusively launch the Y1S smartphone. The device is priced at R199/month over a 24month contract – making it “one of the most accessible smartphones currently in the SA market”. Launched globally in August 2020, the Y1S is expected to offer South Africans a “cost-efficient high-spec phone” that sports a 4,030mAh battery and innovative smart power management system. The Y1S has a 6.22-inch IPS HD+ display with 720 x 1520 pixels resolution. Plus, there’s a 19:9 aspect ratio and a dewdrop notch overhead housing a selfie sensor, which works in conjunction with the 5MP front-facing camera with f/1.8 aperture. There’s also a 13MP rear camera with LED flash and f/2.2 aperture. According to Hawa Hyath-Saloojee, Mar...
Unpacking the Huawei MateBook X Pro
Huawei has recently introduced the new MateBook X Pro, designed to embody “the future of personal computers”. This flagship device is smarter, easier to use and simpler to integrate with other devices. Weighing in at just 1.33kg, the Huawei MateBook X Pro is super sleek, ultra-slim and highly portable. It also features a 91% screen-to-body ratio, which makes users viewing experience borderless and unhindered by the screen’s surrounding bezels. In fact, Huawei has inserted a 13.9-inch screen in a chassis that its competitors usually use for 12-inch screens. This Ultra FullView Display delivers all content in 3K definition. That means that every photograph or movie will be perfectly crisp, clear and vibrant. The display is also conveniently sized at a 3:2 aspect ratio, which allo...
Altron People Solutions Partners with LivePerson to Deliver AI-powered Messaging for Better Customer Experiences
Altron People Solutions, a subsidiary of JSE-listed technology company Altron, was recently named as a Preferred Partner of LivePerson, a global leader in Conversational AI. The partnership will deliver AI-driven conversational experience solutions to the South African market and help companies pivot their businesses away from traditional voice-based channels to digital messaging channels. “The Altron People Solutions-LivePerson partnership is setting the bar when it comes to conversational experiences. South African brands can now leverage AI-powered bots to answer consumer messages alongside human customer service employees; we refer to this the Human-AI Tango,” says Darryl Marcus, head of business development and CX enabling technologies. “The devastating impact of the COVID-19 p...
aYo Holdings Appoints New Group CEO
aYo Holdings has appointed Marius Botha as its new group chief executive officer (CEO). The African micro-insurance fintech business is a joint venture between telecommunication giant MTN and traditional insurer Momentum Metropolitan Holdings (MMH) – and it offers accidental hospital cover and life cover in Zambia, Uganda and Ghana with additional African countries launching in the very near future. Botha was formerly CEO of life insurer Stangen for nearly seven years, having previously held executive positions at African Bank and Munich Re. He holds an honours degree in actuarial science and an M.Phil in Futures Studies. MTN Nigeria Appoints New CEO MTN Group has appointed Karl Toriola, current VP for MTN Group’s West and Central Africa (WECA) region, as the new CEO of MTN Nigeria –...
O-CITY Drives Contactless Bus Payment Initiative in Kenya
O-CITY is driving contactless payments across bus services in Nairobi, Kenya. The pilot initiatve, designed to reduce the use of cash in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, was launched in partnership with transport savings and credit specialists, NikoDigi, and Kenyan payments firm, Tracom, to accelerate the deployment of cashless fare collection. Used by 70% of the population in Kenya, Matatu buses are a dominant transport mode across the country whereby passengers traditionally pay in cash. O-CITY’s automated fare collection platform leverages the M-Pesa mobile wallet, which is used by 90% of the population in Kenya. Passengers enter a code on their phone and a debit is made on their wallet, which can be instantly seen by drivers to grant access to ride. The platform removes unnecessary t...
