Capitec Bank spent 27% more on IT in its 2024 financial year, reaching R1.9-billion from R1.5-billion in 2023.

The bank revealed the huge jump in spending in its latest annual report for the period ended 29 February 2024 and published on Tuesday, saying IT is “critical to the group’s long-term strategy, and we continue to invest for future growth”.

The R1.9-billion figure excludes employee costs, which typically make up a meaningful component of IT spending in the financial services sector.

“We are focusing on moving all our data to the cloud and on increasing the stability of all our critical systems,” Capitec said of some of its key IT objectives.

Other technology spending priorities for the bank include:

Completing the roll-out of a product development platform;
Optimising the use of cloud services;
Providing a modern and integrated experience for clients by rewriting the Capitec app and creating a single onboarding experience for retail and business clients;
Rolling out a call centre-as-a-service solution with AWS Connect, a cloud service from Amazon Web Services;
Completing data migration to AWS;
Significantly increasing the number of predictive and machine learning models using AI; and
Providing better business intelligence to support decision making.

A strong focus on technology spending and projects has forced Capitec to compete aggressively in the market for scarce IT talent.

“In this landscape, attracting top technical talent continues to be our key strategic focus, prompting us to enhance our employer branding through robust marketing and a targeted employee value proposition,” it said.

“Our attraction strategy is simple yet effective: we leverage various channels – from our corporate careers site and social media platforms to job boards and professional networks – all of which showcase the exciting job opportunities available at Capitec. Through these channels, we not only share our vision but also highlight the unique stories of our people and offer insights into our leadership and culture.”

It said this has proved successful in attracting external IT talent, with an 8% increase in the past year in external applications for specialised or critical skill sets.

The total number of external applications received for all positions at Capitec in the 2024 financial year was a staggering 582 082, 23% higher than 2023’s 472 720.

“We filled 2 633 vacant or new job opportunities with external applicants during the financial year. In alignment with our transformation objectives, 94% of these external appointees were black,” the bank said. Some 15% of all external appointments in 2024 were of data and technology experts.

At the same time, Capitec said it is encouraging its non-technical employees to pivot into technology roles through a learnership programme, allowing them to study full-time while still receiving their full salaries.

Pilot programme

“Upon successful completion of the 10-month learnership, these individuals are placed permanently within a role in the technology division. Our pilot programme targeted 50 internal employees and aims to provide opportunities such as software development, business analysis and software testing,” it said.

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For the 2024 financial year, Capitec reported a 16% increase in profit, helped by a strong performance during the second half as its net transaction and commission income grew by 30%, Reuters reported. — © 2024 NewsCentral Media