Capitec bets big on AI – and keeps hiring

Capitec Bank has put artificial intelligence tools in the hands of almost 5 000 of its employees and is running an agentic AI inside its business banking credit processing operation, according to the group’s 2026 integrated annual report, published on Wednesday alongside its full-year financial results.

South Africa’s largest retail bank by client numbers said the roll-out had moved well past the experimental phase. Average daily use per employee holding an AI licence sits at four interactions, and the majority of employees across the organisation now interact with a generative AI tool daily, according to the report.

“AI is not a future aspiration – it is already at work,” chair Santie Botha and new CEO Graham Lee said in a joint letter to shareholders.

The bank described several distinct AI deployments. Capitec Pulse AI – an internally developed tool – provides client support agents with real-time, contextualised client information, and the bank plans to extend it into client experience personalisation at scale.

Generative AI has also moved into production inside the compliance function. And an AI agent is now embedded in business banking credit processing, with a stated strategy to scale the capability across the division.

On the fraud front, AI-driven models had a measurable impact during the year. Capitec said it blocked more than 131 000 fraudulent beneficiaries, prevented over 394 000 scam payments and avoided approximately R673-million in potential client losses. AI and machine learning models now also leverage behavioural and transactional data in the group’s insurance fraud investigations, where a dedicated investigation function was established during the year.

Headcount grows

Capitec did not disclose a specific figure for AI spending, saying only that the investment was material. Cloud-based computing fees grew 25% as the bank scaled its operations on cloud infrastructure.

Capitec has linked the AI push to cost control, saying the appropriate use of generative AI has already made it possible to improve client experience and scale the business further without proportional increases in headcount and costs.

Despite this scaling, overall headcount at the group grew in the period. Capitec added 711 employees, taking total staff to 17 236 from 16 525, a 4.3% increase. Salaries grew 12%.

Read: The AI model spooking the world’s biggest banks

Capitec has taken a formal approach to AI risk. The report said the bank had elevated model risk management to a “tier-1 risk” and explicitly listed AI “black box” and agentic AI as emerging risks, alongside geopolitical volatility and the convergence of cybersecurity with financial crime. The group is building what it calls a responsible AI framework.  – (c) 2026 NewsCentral Media