Nedbank has extended its United States partnership with global innovation platform, Plug and Play Fintech, to include SA for the first time.
The bank, which has been involved with Play and Play since 2016, says the partnership will connect 10 entrepreneurs from around the world to business leaders at the Disruption Agenda event, to be held in Johannesburg in September. The entrepreneurs will be announced in due course.
Stuart van der Veen, head of Disruption and Innovation at Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB), explains: "The 10 tech entrepreneurs are at the leading edge of digital transformation. They have been accelerated via the Plug and Play platform and identified as relevant disruptors to solving cross-sector business challenges at a corporate level within the local market. The Disruption Agenda is a closed event structured for Nedbank's clients, while a public event for broader access to Plug and Play is envisioned to take place later in the year. The success of these engagements will form the basis of Plug and Play's decision to accelerate plans to establish a permanent presence in Africa."
He notes that Nedbank has long recognised that disruptive technology will shake up the banking industry, hence the active engagement with the start-ups to source new ideas and partnerships.
"We recognise that building an innovation strategy at a corporate level can present a number of significant challenges. The problem is that innovative thinking is too often limited to finding new ways of doing old things, when what businesses really need to do is set themselves apart by finding completely new things to do. That's where the successful integration of disruptive technology can be an unparalleled source of comprehensive transformation for any business."
Saeed Amidi, founder and CEO of Plug and Play, adds that the upcoming event will be a great stepping stone for the platform, "The opportunity in Africa as a whole is endless and we view this event in September as an integral first step for opening and developing an Innovation Hub in South Africa in 2019."
Investment in technology
Earlier this year, the banking group established an internal venture capital fund to leverage technology and better serve clients.
According to Van der Veen, the fund falls under the banking group's disruption channel, which sits alongside its managed evolution and digital fast lane channels.
"Through the three channels, the bank aims to advance its tech ecosystem, implement experimentation and commercialisation capabilities, and plug into global venture capital deal flow. Currently, the bank works to identify the top 100 disruptors globally, across tech hubs in San Francisco, London, Tel Aviv, Lagos, Nairobi, Cape Town and Johannesburg, within a six-month period. On the venture capital side, the bank sees equity opportunities in disruptive companies and has allocated R100 million on its balance sheet for partnerships with companies in which it sees significant opportunity."
Van der Veen confirmed that the group will table 20 collaborative opportunities over a six-month period, of which six will be presented to its pre-investment committee and three to its investment committee.
"Banking is ripe for disruption, as around $17 billion was deployed across fintech in 2017. We believe that successful disruptors are those organisations that are able to see through their traditional functions and create new realities for their clients and businesses. Regulators are opening up to, and starting to embrace, new technology, and as younger generations are demanding more than just traditional banking, organisations such as ours have real potential to transform the economic reality of entire communities," Van der Veen concludes.
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