Language can be used to bank the unbanked

Language goes beyond being an instrument of communication to honour cultures and their people. It embodies histories and identities passed from generation to generation — through telling folklore stories such as Pinky Pinky; song and dance; umrabaraba. 

South Africa has various languages and cultures, making it a beautifully diverse country. However, not all these languages shine through all sectors. Of our 11 languages, only one, sometimes two — English and Afrikaans are — used in the banking sector. Yes, translation services might be provided at ATMs or by bank cashiers but the other nine Indigenous languages (Zulu, Tshivenda, Sotho, among others) are not used on intelligent systems such as Absa’s Abby and Standard Bank’s WhatsApp chatbot.

The role of, and attitude towards, language becomes specific, making it an essential communicative agent assisting people in a constantly growing and competitive economy and environment. This means that if one is competent in the predominantly used languages, one can access more opportunities and privileges in a competitive economy. English has been cited as an essential “21st-century skill” to have (especially in developing countries such as South Africa) for upward progression in the “global knowledge economy”.

As banking moves digitally, and into a marketplace without boundaries, it is becoming crucial for banks to provide financial information to their customers in their home languages. 

Four of South Africa’s commercial banks have been tapping into technological innovations to improve customer experience and reduce costs. But at what cost? At the expense of excluding non-English speakers from accessing their digital services? This might be the case with Absa’s Abby, as the intelligent system only provides services in English. Unfortunately, people who do not possess this skill will not have access to this banking service.  

The various ways in which intelligent services can be harnessed in banking are:

• Anti-money laundering: Artificial intelligence (AI) can assist banks in decision-making processes and alert them to areas that need investigation;
• Customer and client satisfaction: AI can assist financial service providers with tailoring their products and services to suit the needs of their clients;
• Reacting to market trends: Smart machines can be used to track volatility and manage the wealth and assets of investors. These machines can make more accurate assessments than humans and react in real-time; and 
• Calculating risks: Smart machines can be used to analyse and examine the large amount of data coming into banks’ systems daily in different areas, such as credit scores, spending patterns and financial data, to accurately assess risk in both insurance underwriting and loan assessments, tailoring them to a specific customer profile. 

Customers who can use the digital side of banking can apply for loans and make investments and payments from their cellphones or online. Banks that ensure that they are linguistically diverse will be rewarded for this flexibility of not only catering to different demands but to people speaking different languages as well.

Language services are required to help clients make complex purchases and investments. With translation and interpretation services, and systems that understand all 11 official languages, a new pool of customers can be tapped into, helping to attract foreign investors. 

Yes, finance might be numerically based, however, the figures are all in text and providing language services can ensure that every language community enjoys the ease of digital banking.

Digitisation and the development of new technologies can assist banks in growing by tailoring their products to suit their customers’ requirements, giving them the edge over their competitors. 

Banks can leverage AI analytics and big data that are integrated with indigenous languages to establish effective strategies to assist with cutting costs — automating laborious tasks, improving customer experience and potentially acquiring new clients. 

Although this might enable the unbanked to be banked, it is essential to ensure that this inclusion is not predatory in nature, where clients, usually black, fall prey to the banking industry’s hidden-interest loans and fees and aggressive debt-collection activities. 

Integrating Indigenous languages into their systems and attracting people who are unbanked should not only be about banks acquiring new clients but also ensuring that the unbanked enjoy inclusion in a digital society that does not prey on them.

Sanele Khakhu is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Johannesburg.