2026 Agenda

0800 - 0900

Registration

0900 - 0905

Opening Remarks

0905 - 0935

From Protected Economics to Open Rails: Where South African Banking Goes Next

The competitive position of South Africa's incumbent banks has changed in ways the strategy decks have not yet absorbed. The largest retail bank by customer numbers is digital-first. Settlement access opens to non-banks this year. NIM is compressing for the incumbents while digital challengers expand it. None of this is a forward-looking scenario — it is the operating environment as of mid-2026.

The competitive league table has reordered without an external shock. What should every major bank's strategic posture actually be from here?
The moat under transaction revenue is opening. What does the bank's next decade of payment economics actually look like?
Cost-to-income has become the defining metric, not return on equity. What does that change about how technology investment gets prioritised?
SARB has positioned AI and real-time infrastructure as the next operational layer. What does intelligent banking in South Africa actually look like in practice?

0935 - 0950

How We Solved...

A practical case study on a real industry challenge, the approach taken, and results achieved.

0950 - 1020

The Challenger Inside the Group: What Every Major Bank Has to Decide

The disruption never came from outside the regulated perimeter. It came from inside it. The largest retail bank in the country is a digital-first model built from scratch over twenty years. A second crossed twelve million customers and is now rebranding for regional expansion. The big four still hold corporate and high-net-worth — but the retail base, the cross-sell engine, and the customer growth curve are moving elsewhere.

A digital-first model is now the retail benchmark. What does the bank's stack need to look like to compete on the same products, not just the same brand?
A digital subsidiary requires capital and conviction most incumbents lack. What is the realistic architectural pattern when neither is available?
Cost-to-income arbitrage was the digital banks' opening move. Where is the structural advantage still genuinely defensible, and where has it already closed?
Insurance, telco, and asset management groups are now building banking platforms. What does the bank's competitive frame look like when banking stops being a vertical?

1020 - 1035

How We Solved...

A practical case study on a real industry challenge, the approach taken, and results achieved.

1035 - 1040

The Room Speaks: Morning Pulse

A live audience pulse check capturing the priorities, pressures, and challenges shaping banking transformation today.

1040 - 1105

Networking Break

1105 - 1135

The Payments Stack: When Open Settlement Reshapes Revenue

South African transaction revenue has been protected by exclusive access to clearing infrastructure for decades. That ends this year. With non-bank fintechs gaining direct settlement access, the National Payment Utility consolidating shared rails, and instant payment adoption uneven across the sector, the bank's payment revenue model is no longer defended by the architecture underneath it.

Settlement access has been the bank's monetisation moat for decades. What does the bank's revenue architecture look like when that ends?
The National Payment Utility will operate as shared infrastructure for the sector. Where does the bank's product differentiation actually live from here?
Non-bank fintechs will hold the same clearing position as the big four. What does the bank's API and partner integration enable?
Pricing inconsistency is capping instant payment adoption across the sector. What does the bank's pricing and product architecture need to enable?

1135 - 1150

How We Solved...

A practical case study on a real industry challenge, the approach taken, and results achieved.

1150 - 1220

The Pilot-to-Production Gap: Why Most Bank AI Isn't Live Yet

Every major South African bank has invested in AI. Most of those investments are still stuck in pilot eighteen months or longer after the business case was approved. Cost-to-income discipline is now exposing the deployments that haven't shipped, and FATF post-greylist obligations on model governance are tightening the bar further. The hard problem in 2026 is not AI capability — it is the journey from pilot to production.

Most bank AI never reaches production. What is the operational pattern across the pilots that actually shipped, and the ones that stalled?
AI governance is now a regulatory requirement, not a best practice. Where is model risk killing deployments that would otherwise have shipped?
The cost of a failed pilot used to be invisible. With cost-to-income now binding, what does the bank's AI investment discipline actually need to look like?
Production AI needs data, integration, and operational ownership that pilots rarely require. Where is the bank's foundation genuinely ready, and where is it the blocker?

1220 - 1235

How We Solved...

A practical case study on a real industry challenge, the approach taken, and results achieved.

1235 - 1305

The Intelligence Layer: Where Data, AI, and Customer Experience Converge

The infrastructure conversation is largely settled. The rails are opening, the core has migrated for most banks, and AI capability is no longer the differentiator. What separates the banks competing for the next decade is what they build on top — the data foundation that powers AI that drives genuinely differentiated customer experience. The bank that owns the customer relationship in 2030 will be the bank that built that layer first.

The data foundation underneath AI determines what's possible. Where is the bank's data architecture genuinely production-ready, and where is it the blocker?
Personalisation is now table stakes, not differentiation. What does the bank's next layer of customer engagement actually need to deliver?
AI-driven customer journeys require integration the old stack wasn't built for. Where is the bank's engagement architecture actually behind?
The digital banks set the CX benchmark consumers now expect. What does the bank's product, channel, and data integration need to enable to close that gap?

1305 - 1320

How We Solved...

A practical case study on a real industry challenge, the approach taken, and results achieved.

1320 - 1350

The Security Agenda: Defending the Bank as the Threat Surface Widens

South African bank security operates under a regulatory environment that has hardened significantly. The Joint Standard on Cybersecurity has been operational reality for over a year, and the bar continues to rise. Meanwhile the threat surface keeps widening: digital banking fraud surged 86% in 2024, SIM swap and telecoms-enabled fraud cost the country R5.3 billion in 2025, and deepfake impersonation of SARB officials is now documented territory. The regulatory floor is higher, the attack vectors are broader, and the defence sits inside each bank.

Cyber resilience is now a board-level accountability, not a CISO problem. What does that change about how the bank actually runs the function?
Critical payment systems must recover within two hours. Where is the bank's resilience genuinely operational, and where is it a written commitment?
The dominant fraud techniques sit outside the bank's perimeter. What controls — internal or partnered — are genuinely reducing exposure?
Deepfake and AI-generated social engineering are scaling. What does the bank's authentication and detection stack need to look like in twelve months?

1350 - 1355

The Room Speaks: Closing Pulse

A final audience reflection measuring how perspectives shifted across the day’s discussions and debates.

1355 - 1400

Closing Remarks

1400 - 1445

VIP Networking Lunch

South Africa Edition

7 July 2026, Johannesburg

10DX Summit South Africa Edition

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