Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      South Africa begins complex job of overhauling media laws

      13 July 2025

      Nvidia CEO to hold high-stakes media briefing in Beijing

      13 July 2025

      Blue Label Telecoms to change its name as restructuring gathers pace

      11 July 2025

      Get your ID delivered like pizza – home affairs’ latest digital shake-up

      11 July 2025

      EFF vows to stop Starlink from launching in South Africa

      11 July 2025
    • World

      Grok 4 arrives with bold claims and fresh controversy

      10 July 2025

      Bitcoin pushes higher into record territory

      10 July 2025

      Cupertino vs Brussels: Apple challenges Big Tech crackdown

      7 July 2025

      Grammarly acquires e-mail start-up Superhuman

      1 July 2025

      Apple considers ditching its own AI in Siri overhaul

      1 July 2025
    • In-depth

      Siemens is battling Big Tech for AI supremacy in factories

      24 June 2025

      The algorithm will sing now: why musicians should be worried about AI

      20 June 2025

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025
    • TCS

      TCS+ | MVNX on the opportunities in South Africa’s booming MVNO market

      11 July 2025

      TCS | Connecting Saffas – Renier Lombard on The Lekker Network

      7 July 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E4: Takealot’s big Post Office jobs plan

      4 July 2025

      TCS | Tech, townships and tenacity: Spar’s plan to win with Spar2U

      3 July 2025

      TCS+ | First Distribution on the latest and greatest cloud technologies

      27 June 2025
    • Opinion

      In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

      30 June 2025

      E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

      30 June 2025

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CambriLearn
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » In-depth » It’s Absa vs 22seven as war of words erupts

    It’s Absa vs 22seven as war of words erupts

    By Editor1 February 2012
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp
    22seven CEO Christo Davel

    Online personal financial management start-up 22seven on Wednesday accused Absa of blocking its US technology partner Yodlee from accessing users’ Internet bank accounts. Absa confirms it has blocked the service and on Wednesday defended its decision in an interview with TechCentral.

    22seven has provoked an outcry from local banks, which have warned users not to share their banking credentials with third parties.

    The start-up, headed by Christo Davel, the former head of now defunct online bank 20twenty, requires users to provide their Internet banking login details so it can provide them with a detailed and graphics-rich overview of their income and expenditure and help them prioritise their personal spending.

    Christo Vrey, head of digital banking services at Absa, says the bank has begun blocking the service, preventing Yodlee from accessing users’ bank accounts. Vrey says it’s doing this to protect Absa clients and reiterates that if its customers provide their login credentials to a third party, they are violating the terms and conditions of service of Absa’s online banking site.

    He says Absa recognises that there are “benefits to personal financial management tools” and is also not opposed to the idea of publishing a secure and open application programming interface (API) that would allow third parties to access its customers’ statements. But, he says, this would “normally require a conversation and a whole series of arrangements and context around that”.

    “By automatic action, we can’t say here’s an API. The data privacy and data integrity of my clients remains paramount. I cannot just open this to anybody out there without a conversation and context around that.”

    Davel, on the other hand, says again that there’s no reason consumers who provide their login details to 22seven partner Yodlee should worry about fraud. He says the service offered by Yodlee is secure and the US company has never experienced a breach in its systems. At no point in the process are users’ bank login credentials stored by 22seven.

    “We will not be intimidated,” Davel tells TechCentral, adding that 22seven has an “established, credible team of people with blue-chip investors”. He says he is troubled that the banks are not, in his view, differentiating between criminals who engage in phishing scams and reputable companies like 22seven and Yodlee that have a valid interest in accessing the data to help consumers save money.

    Davel says he is aware of the risks around banks potentially not refunding customers for fraud on their accounts if they are compromised in any way if they share their login details with third parties, but he accuses the institutions of engaging in “old-school FUD tactics”. FUD is a propaganda term, meaning casting “fear, uncertainty and doubt”, often in the minds of technology users.

    “We were fully aware of the risks and that we’d be the first guys to do it in SA,” he says. “You have to earn the trust of consumers. We have a team of industry veterans who have done this. We have built a trusted brand from scratch. You get there by being completely honest.”

    In a statement last week, Absa warned its customers that if they provided 22seven with access to their Internet banking credentials, it might not cover them in the case of fraud, even if that fraud is unrelated to 22seven.

    In the statement, Absa’s Vrey warned that disclosing sensitive information would render the bank’s customers “completely liable for any losses” that occur due to “phishing” or other online fraud. This was in line with Absa’s online banking terms and conditions.

    But in an e-mail to Absa customers that use the 22seven service, the start-up says that although data aggregation is new to SA, it is used by millions of people around the world and has been for years. It says Yodlee has “an impeccable track record” and gathers data from Bank of America, Citibank and other large institutions.

    22seven says it did not encounter problems with Absa accounts during its closed testing phase that preceded its public launch last week and will attempt to resolve the problem with Absa as swiftly as possible.  — Craig Wilson and Duncan McLeod, TechCentral

    • Subscribe to our free daily newsletter
    • Follow us on Twitter or on Google+ or on Facebook
    • Visit our sister website, SportsCentral (still in beta)


    22Seven Absa Christo Davel Christo Vrey Yodlee
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleRivonia gets high-speed fibre access
    Next Article How hacker culture propelled Facebook to dominance

    Related Posts

    Absa CEO Fihla to ditch ‘prison’ branches and revamp customer focus

    1 July 2025

    Absa chairman Sello Moloko to step down

    7 May 2025

    Economic growth could triple this year: Absa

    26 March 2025
    Company News

    $125-trillion traded: Binance redefines global finance in just eight years

    11 July 2025

    NEC XON welcomes HPE acquisition of Juniper Networks

    11 July 2025

    LTE Cat 1 vs Cat 1 bis – what’s the difference?

    11 July 2025
    Opinion

    In defence of equity alternatives for BEE

    30 June 2025

    E-commerce in ICT distribution: enabler or disruptor?

    30 June 2025

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.