Press Releases

Cape Town, South Africa – [September 9, 2024] – Electrum, the next generation payments technology company, has achieved the highly coveted Amazon Web Services (AWS) Financial Services Competency status. 

Electrum is the first company on the continent to be recognised as an independent software vendor (ISV) in financial services, underscoring its commitment to delivering best-in-class, cloud-native payment technology. 

Fewer than 40 companies globally have achieved the AWS Financial Services Competency ISV status.

The competency recognises Electrum’s cloud payments technology as fully validated and compliant with rigorous AWS best practices. It highlights Electrum's adherence to world-class standards in the six critical pillars of the Well-Architected Framework: operational excellence, security, reliability, performance efficiency, cost optimisation, and sustainability.

“This competency is significant for Electrum and our clients. For Electrum, it serves as a testament to the quality and reliability of our cloud-native payments technology, which is designed to run efficiently and securely on the AWS cloud infrastructure. This validation from AWS reinforces our credibility as the leading provider of next-generation payments technology in Africa,” says Dave Glass, Co-Founder and CEO at Electrum. 

For clients, this competency provides the assurance that Electrum’s software meets the highest standards of performance and security. 

“Banks and financial institutions can trust that Electrum’s technology is designed to handle complex financial transaction processing with the utmost reliability and efficiency. The competency also opens up new opportunities for collaboration and innovation in the financial services sector,” says Ferdi Immelman, Chief Information Officer at Electrum. 

The journey to achieving the AWS Financial Services Competency involved a comprehensive process. 

Electrum first underwent the Well-Architected Framework review, which assessed its solutions across the six pillars. Following this, Electrum completed a thorough validation checklist aligned with AWS best practices for financial services.

The process also required Electrum to present detailed business use cases demonstrating how its technology has effectively addressed specific pain points for clients. This involved extensive technical reviews, ensuring that Electrum's offerings are both innovative and reliable.

For Electrum the certification is another stage in its expansion in the market and the delivery of its cloud-native offering using AWS cloud infrastructure. The company has a substantial track record of delivering next-generation payments technology for clients that include Capitec, BankservAfrica and Investec. These solutions range from safe online payments for consumers through Capitec Pay to implementing PayShap, and a modernised payments engine for a new digital retail bank.

Electrum, South Africa’s leading cloud payments technology company, proudly announces the appointment of Mpho Sadiki as a Non-Executive Director. With over 14 years of extensive experience in the payments industry, Mpho brings a wealth of knowledge and strategic insight to the Electrum board.

As a Non-Executive Director, Mpho will play a pivotal role in providing independent guidance and strategic counsel to the executive team at Electrum. His deep expertise in wholesale and retail payments products and solutions, including real-time payments, open banking, and card issuing, will bring invaluable perspective to board discussions and decision-making processes.

Mpho brings a host of experience having held several senior executive positions in payments, including Head of Card and Payments Acceptance, operations, and client management at Nedbank Card Payments and Transactional Business. His tenure at Nedbank was marked by significant achievements in enhancing customer experience and operational efficiency.

Before his time at Nedbank, Mpho spent five years at Deloitte, where he served as a strategy consultant, providing valuable insights and guidance to clients in the payments industry. His diverse background and multidisciplinary approach have equipped him with a unique perspective on addressing complex challenges and driving sustainable growth.

Mpho holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Wits Business School and has completed executive development programmes at renowned institutions such as INSEAD and Duke University. His commitment to continuous learning and innovation underscores his dedication to staying at the forefront of the rapidly evolving payments ecosystem.

"We are thrilled to welcome Mpho Sadiki to the Electrum board," says Dave Glass, CEO and Co-Founder of Electrum. "His wealth of experience and strategic vision will be invaluable as we continue to expand our real-time payments capabilities. Mpho's leadership will play a pivotal role in driving Electrum's growth and cementing our position as the trusted partner in payments technology.”

By Dave Glass, CEO and Co-Founder of Electrum

Banks in South Africa face a difficult decision over their reliance on an outdated language system. 

Back in the 80s, I was very lucky to be exposed to early home computers - my astrophysicist dad was an early adopter. I can recall excitedly writing my first programmes on the famous Apple II home computer. After some frustrating attempts with the Pascal language, I discovered the Logo educational language, which was much more fun for an eight-year-old. Getting the daisy wheel printer to hammer out a sentence onto paper was a huge thrill.

Around the same time, in the financial services industry, the Common Business Oriented Language (COBOL) had become the operating language of financial services. Responsible for running most of the world's banking systems, the brilliantly designed and easy-to-read, archetypal mainframe language still today underpins deposit accounts, check-clearing services, card networks, ATMs, mortgage servicing, loan ledgers and other services.

Programming languages have come a long way. Kids nowadays have so many more options (check out Scratch), and frankly, a much more entertaining and educational experience. So too in business,  it’s not only the languages but the ecosystems around the languages that have radically improved - the developer tooling, utilities, pre-built components, cloud infrastructure, and even Artificial Intelligence assistants. That’s not to say you can’t run COBOL on cloud computing infrastructure, but do you really want to? Sixty-four years after it was developed, COBOL itself isn’t the fundamental problem, it’s the ecosystem around it that is no longer fit for purpose, and the world has moved on.

Finding COBOL programmers today can be challenging due to the language's declining popularity and the ageing workforce familiar with it. Younger programmers are not exposed to COBOL as part of their training and as a result financial institutions often have to spend inordinate amounts of money on in-house training. One South African bank had to launch its own IT academy offering COBOL learnerships to train programmers to manage its core system. Alternatively, banks often hire retired programmers and pay them exorbitant fees to manage these legacy systems. A 2017 article by Reuters reported that in the US, experienced COBOL programmers were earning more than $100 an hour “to patch up glitches, rewrite coding manuals or make new systems work with old”. It might be cheaper to pay more for experience in the short term but what happens when the knowledge and experience are no longer around? 

In my world of payments technology, I still see plenty of legacy payment systems that run on COBOL. In particular, many of the batch payment schemes were designed in the heyday of COBOL, were built in COBOL and have survived into the cloud computing era.

There are two main reasons why banks still cling to COBOL: cost and risk. Change is expensive and banks often baulk at the capital outlay for new system builds, and when they do embrace change, they risk their operations and their relationships with existing customers - who are of course very cautious in matters relating to their financial affairs.

In 2012 it cost the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) $750 million ($1 billion Australian) and five years to replace its ageing COBOL-based legacy core banking platform with a more modern system. It’s easy to understand why banks are still holding on to an archaic programming language. A recent article in PC Mag cited a report from the International Journal of Advanced Research in Science, Communication and Technology (IJARSCT), claiming that 43% of all banking systems globally are still using COBOL.  

Change is however inevitable thanks to ever-increasing competitive pressure, as neo-banks and fintechs, enabled by new technologies and progressive regulations, are able to run cheaper, faster and with more agility. Without modern systems, banks risk stunting their growth potential as legacy systems hinder their ability to meet service demands. Upgrading COBOL systems will not be a simple task and will require substantial financial investment, and extensive time. Modernisation positions banks for progress - ready to entice new customers with unique offerings agile enough to meet their existing customers’ changing needs. In the long run, the cost of not modernising far outweighs the cost of change. Moving to newer technologies can help banks tap into a larger pool of developers with the skills and expertise needed to support and innovate their systems.

At Electrum, our Modernised Payments in South Africa report into the South African payments industry revealed that there is a clear trajectory towards the adoption of instant electronic payments. This transition not only reflects evolving consumer preferences but also presents promising opportunities for all stakeholders within the ecosystem. 

As banking operations continue to grow in complexity and volume, cloud-based solutions built in modern languages offer greater scalability, allowing banks to handle larger volumes of transactions and data more efficiently. They also provide greater agility and flexibility, enabling banks to adapt quickly to changing market conditions, regulatory requirements, and customer demands, crucial in today's fast-paced and competitive banking landscape. Better integration capabilities will allow banks to seamlessly integrate with other systems, platforms, and services creating a more connected and interoperable banking ecosystem.

Financial services often connote new systems with unnecessary risk. The reality, however, is that old, outdated systems carry just as much risk. If you are running the core global operations of the financial system on code no one writes or understands anymore, that’s a huge gamble. Don’t move… and you will be left behind. 

The future of banking lies in embracing next-generation payments technology and the potential benefits of scalability, agility, cost-effectiveness, and innovation make it a compelling proposition for banks looking to modernise their technology infrastructure and stay competitive in the digital age.

MTN South Africa, in collaboration with Investec and Electrum, is set to revolutionise mobile payments with the introduction of the PayShap solution on its MoMo platform. The collaboration aims to provide users with an instant, cost-effective payment system.

This joint effort not only sets MoMo apart as the first non-banking player to offer PayShap but also addresses a critical gap in serving the unbanked population. 

“We are thrilled to pioneer the integration of PayShap on MoMo, redefining the landscape of mobile payments and helping to drive financial inclusion. This strategic collaboration will empower our users, especially the unbanked community, with unprecedented accessibility and convenience,” says Bradwin Roper, CEO: FinTech at MTN SA.

Investec, taking on the pivotal role of banking partner, underscores the commitment to enabling financial inclusion. 

“Investec is proud to be the banking partner for this initiative. By bridging the gap between traditional banking and mobile solutions, we aim to foster a financial ecosystem that serves all segments of society,” says, Cumesh Moodliar, CEO of Investec Bank Limited.

Electrum, as the technical partner, brings expertise to ensure the seamless implementation of PayShap. 

“Through innovation and collaboration with MTN and Investec, this is an exciting example of a next-generation payments solution. Electrum is proud to have contributed to this transformative project, showcasing the important role that cloud payments technology must play towards South Africa’s payments modernisation efforts,” says Dave Glass, Electrum CEO and Co-Founder.

Drawing inspiration from successful global models, such as Reliance Jio and UPI AutoPay in India, where 80% of transactions are executed through a similar rapid payment solution, this partnership promises to reshape the digital payments landscape in South Africa for both prepaid and contract subscribers. 

Jio’s integration with the UPI AutoPay facility in 2022, made it the first player in the telecom industry to go live with a unique e-mandate feature that was launched by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). 

“We’re excited about the future of the PayShap solution in South Africa. Not only does it represent a significant milestone in the evolution of digital finance in South Africa, but it will also increase financial inclusivity, connecting more people to the safer and more efficient world of mobile payments,” concludes Roper.

Notes to the Editor:

• The availability of the PayShap solution on the MoMo platform is subject to all necessary approvals.
• African Bank remains the sponsor bank for MoMo wallet.

About Payshap

PayShap is South Africa's first real-time, interbank digital payment service. PayShap was born out of the Payments Industry-led Rapid Payments Programme (RPP), which officially kicked off in 2019 to collectively design a viable alternative to cash payments, with a core focus on humanising digital payments for all South Africans.