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Fourth industrial banking: case studies into digitising banking models and the foreseeable effects in South Africa
This thesis is a critical, exploratory analysis of the impacts to the banking industry in South Africa, in light of the wave of technological change and emergence, termed in popular discourse as the Fourth Industrial Revolution or 4IR. The 4IR has been argued to offer the transformative potential to...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Sociology
2022
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| _version_ | 1867613153699823616 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Masheleni, Celine Intombiyenhle |
| author2 | Benya, Asanda-Jonas |
| author_browse | Benya, Asanda-Jonas Masheleni, Celine Intombiyenhle |
| author_facet | Benya, Asanda-Jonas Masheleni, Celine Intombiyenhle |
| author_sort | Masheleni, Celine Intombiyenhle |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | This thesis is a critical, exploratory analysis of the impacts to the banking industry in South Africa, in light of the wave of technological change and emergence, termed in popular discourse as the Fourth Industrial Revolution or 4IR. The 4IR has been argued to offer the transformative potential to change and disrupt current societal organization and provide opportunities for developing countries such as South Africa to “leapfrog” into development. Many argue that as technology advances and progresses, it can be used to address socio-economic, developmental challenges and deliver services. In the banking sector, particularly in the context of developing countries, as large portions of the population remain excluded from formal financial services, digital banking methods premised on the technologies of the 4IR have emerged as potential “solutions”. What is often understated, however, that this study highlights, is that such technological advancements hold challenges. Moreover, as they are presented as solutions to the socioeconomic difficulties of developing countries, like financial exclusion, it is important that this is understood contextually, and critically and such challenges are presented. Through primarily qualitative case studies of two banks, Standard Bank and TymeBank, the study aimed to uncover the processes of digitisation occurring as well as the social processes that underlie them. Findings show that indeed, tangible examples of “4IR”/digitisation are identified at the two banks through technical application of emerging technologies, such as cloud computing and machine learning. However, more concerning are the social processes and strategic decisions that result in and out of their adoption. The 4IR in the context of this study appears to replicate ongoing social and economic inequalities, through inadequate digital infrastructures, and omni-present interests of neoliberalism presenting as digital capitalism. Additionally, carrying concern of adverse effects to the employment and labour landscape, the 4IR is deconstructed for its rhetorical meaning which contrasts with the reality. Hegemonic representations of a 4IR and its proposed ‘transformative benefits' do not correspond with actual phenomena and risk the neglecting of fundamental social challenges that are deepened by and new ones emerging out of digitisation. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/36483 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:31:35.974Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publishDateRange | 2022 |
| publishDateSort | 2022 |
| publisher | Department of Sociology |
| publisherStr | Department of Sociology |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/36483 Fourth industrial banking: case studies into digitising banking models and the foreseeable effects in South Africa Masheleni, Celine Intombiyenhle Benya, Asanda-Jonas Fourth Industrial Revolution Financial Inclusion Financial Exclusion Digital Banking Technology and Society Development Studies This thesis is a critical, exploratory analysis of the impacts to the banking industry in South Africa, in light of the wave of technological change and emergence, termed in popular discourse as the Fourth Industrial Revolution or 4IR. The 4IR has been argued to offer the transformative potential to change and disrupt current societal organization and provide opportunities for developing countries such as South Africa to “leapfrog” into development. Many argue that as technology advances and progresses, it can be used to address socio-economic, developmental challenges and deliver services. In the banking sector, particularly in the context of developing countries, as large portions of the population remain excluded from formal financial services, digital banking methods premised on the technologies of the 4IR have emerged as potential “solutions”. What is often understated, however, that this study highlights, is that such technological advancements hold challenges. Moreover, as they are presented as solutions to the socioeconomic difficulties of developing countries, like financial exclusion, it is important that this is understood contextually, and critically and such challenges are presented. Through primarily qualitative case studies of two banks, Standard Bank and TymeBank, the study aimed to uncover the processes of digitisation occurring as well as the social processes that underlie them. Findings show that indeed, tangible examples of “4IR”/digitisation are identified at the two banks through technical application of emerging technologies, such as cloud computing and machine learning. However, more concerning are the social processes and strategic decisions that result in and out of their adoption. The 4IR in the context of this study appears to replicate ongoing social and economic inequalities, through inadequate digital infrastructures, and omni-present interests of neoliberalism presenting as digital capitalism. Additionally, carrying concern of adverse effects to the employment and labour landscape, the 4IR is deconstructed for its rhetorical meaning which contrasts with the reality. Hegemonic representations of a 4IR and its proposed ‘transformative benefits' do not correspond with actual phenomena and risk the neglecting of fundamental social challenges that are deepened by and new ones emerging out of digitisation. 2022-06-21T09:07:26Z 2022-06-21T09:07:26Z 2022 2022-06-21T09:07:03Z Master Thesis Masters MPhil http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36483 eng application/pdf Department of Sociology Faculty of Humanities |
| spellingShingle | Fourth Industrial Revolution Financial Inclusion Financial Exclusion Digital Banking Technology and Society Development Studies Masheleni, Celine Intombiyenhle Fourth industrial banking: case studies into digitising banking models and the foreseeable effects in South Africa |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Fourth industrial banking: case studies into digitising banking models and the foreseeable effects in South Africa |
| title_full | Fourth industrial banking: case studies into digitising banking models and the foreseeable effects in South Africa |
| title_fullStr | Fourth industrial banking: case studies into digitising banking models and the foreseeable effects in South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fourth industrial banking: case studies into digitising banking models and the foreseeable effects in South Africa |
| title_short | Fourth industrial banking: case studies into digitising banking models and the foreseeable effects in South Africa |
| title_sort | fourth industrial banking case studies into digitising banking models and the foreseeable effects in south africa |
| topic | Fourth Industrial Revolution Financial Inclusion Financial Exclusion Digital Banking Technology and Society Development Studies |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/36483 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mashelenicelineintombiyenhle fourthindustrialbankingcasestudiesintodigitisingbankingmodelsandtheforeseeableeffectsinsouthafrica |