As banks close branches, Africa’s unbanked face a digital divide
Trust, empathy, and human-centred design are the keys to financial inclusion
By Ettienne Mostert, Business Development and Partnerships Manager, Hasso Plattner d-school Afrika, University of Cape Town
South Africa’s major banks are closing physical branches and ATMs at an unprecedented rate. Standard Bank, for example, has reduced its branch footprint by 42% since 2017, while Absa, FNB, and Nedbank have also scaled back operations. The industry is clearly moving towards digital-first banking. But this transformation raises an urgent question: how will the 3.9 million unbanked South Africans access financial services in a world increasingly dominated by apps and online platforms?
According to the World Bank’s latest Global Findex report, titled Connectivity and Financial Inclusion In The Digital Economy, 80 million adults in Sub-Saharan Africa have the prerequisites to join a bank, including mobile phones, personal IDs, and SIM cards, but they remain unbanked. The challenge isn’t technology. These individuals are not rejecting apps or digital banking; they are hesitant to trust financial institutions, find the products irrelevant, or face barriers to physically accessing banks.
Trust is one of the critical barriers. Fear of fraud, opaque fees, and uncertainty about whether the system works for them keeps people on the sidelines. Without trust, no digital platform or mobile app can succeed. Accessibility, relevance, and transparency must come first.
So, what needs to change? The answer lies in really understanding the user’s needs. This is a collaborative approach that puts users at the heart of product development. Design Thinking emphasises empathy, understanding the lived realities of potential users, and co-creating solutions with communities rather than imposing them from the boardroom.
Banks and fintech’s must start by listening before building. This involves engaging with unbanked communities to understand their financial habits, pain points, and aspirations. Piloting small, iterative solutions with real users allows institutions to learn and adapt quickly, reducing the risk of failed launches. It also sends a signal that the bank is responsive and accountable, which is essential for building trust.
Collaboration matters. Trust at scale grows when credible institutions, regulators, NGOs, and financial service providers work together. Success stories from early pilots must be communicated widely, demonstrating that systems work and that people’s money is safe. Transparency, clear communication, and visible safeguards help move people from scepticism to confidence.
Once trust is established and users join banks, digital platforms become a powerful tool. Apps, online banking, and mobile money can expand convenience, reach, and functionality. But these tools only add value after adoption, not before. Building solutions without first earning trust risks creating technology that exists but goes unused.
The World Bank data highlights a vast opportunity: the building blocks for financial inclusion are in place, but they will only translate into meaningful adoption if institutions tackle the relational and social dimensions of banking. Human-centred, co-created solutions can address multiple barriers such as trust, relevance, and accessibility all at once – and pave the way for digital adoption that is both effective and inclusive.
Africa’s unbanked population represents not just an economic opportunity, but a chance to rethink financial systems from the ground up. Banks, fintech’s, and policymakers must ask whether they are building services that people trust and need, or technology that merely exists. The answer will determine the success of Africa’s next wave of digital finance.
