Despite the arrival of fintechs and cellphone banking apps that enable clients to do online transactions, South African bank branches still serve a huge number of clients. When clients choose to walk into a bank it is not a sign of tech failure or a rejection of banking apps; it simply indicates that banking remains, at its core, a human enterprise. Around the world banks are redesigning physical banking spaces to focus less on routine transactions and more on advice, engagement and customer experience. In that regard I recently learnt that Investec wasn’t using tech for “the sake” of doing so, but to augment human expertise. Investec Group CEO Fani Titi put it plainly in the latest integrated annual report, saying: “Our approach is to use technology to augment human expertise, not replace the judgment and care that defines our brand.” Investec uses AI-enabled banking functions so that staff can focus on complex work and genuine client relationships. It clearly states that it is not using AI and chatbots to replace staff or cut costs, but rather to enhance the banking experience for clients. This stance got me thinking more deeply about how South African banks use tech. Last week Nedbank announced that it was testing a new hybrid banking model that combines self-service tech, digital onboarding and human assistance in retail environments. Nedbank has introduced a pilot Client Connect Zone, a tech-enabled banking hub that combines self-service kiosks with personalised consultant support, allowing customers to handle routine transactions and access expert assistance in one location. “Our customers are showing us that the future of banking isn’t about digital or physical, but it’s about creating experiences that combine the strengths of both,” says Werner Terblanche, managing executive of channel operations at Nedbank. “People no longer think about banking in terms of channels. They simply want to engage with their bank in the way that best suits their needs at that particular moment. Sometimes that’s through an app, sometimes it’s self-service and sometimes it’s a conversation with a consultant. “Our responsibility is to make those experiences work seamlessly together while meeting customers where life happens.” This is the heart of the matter. South African banks are differentiating themselves by moving beyond simple online transactions to create integrated, customer-centric financial ecosystems. FNB has enhanced its NAVi virtual assistant with AI and introduced My Advisor, an AI-driven tool that provides contextual financial insights directly within its app. Capitec launched “Pulse”, an AI feature that provides agents with potential client problems before they even answer the call, reducing handling times by up to 18%. Discovery Bank leads in customer experience rankings through innovation and a lifestyle approach. Absa has invested heavily in its AI chat agent “Abby” and delivered 60-million personalised messages, improving customer satisfaction from 77% to 85%. Nedbank uses Enbi, which has helped more than 1-million users and handled more than 5-million chats. So, is this approach working to enhance the banking experience for clients? Yes and no. South Africa faces unique structural barriers. A large portion of the historically unbanked population lacks deep financial histories, meaning AI trained on incomplete data produces flawed and biased outcomes. South Africa has legacy systems that struggle to integrate with modern AI engines. Add to this low digital literacy, especially among elderly and rural populations. Another downer on the situation is that South Africa has high rates of digital banking fraud, resulting in clients being deeply sceptical of automated decisions. The biggest unresolved banking challenge is problem resolution. When things go wrong, customers find themselves in frustrating loops between digital channels and branches. AI-powered personalisation banking is working for South Africans who are digitally literate, data-rich and trust the system. But for the majority it remains a work in progress. The banks that will win the hearts of the majority of South Africans are not those with the most advanced algorithms, but those that build pragmatic AI systems. The bank branch is not dead, it is just being reimagined. • Lourie is founder and editor of TechFinancials.