The South African Post Office (SAPO) has committed to increasing its IT and security spending for the Post Bank as it prepares to take on the four major banks in the country.
While additional funding has not been finalised, the post office says critical processes would be secured through increased spending on its IT systems.
SAPO has spent R275 million in the 2008/9 financial year on software and the upgrading of IT infrastructure. An additional R200 million was spent in the previous financial year, while spending for the 2009/10 financial year is expected to rise even more.
This follows the finalisation of plans by SAPO for the corporatisation of the Post Bank, which will see it become an autonomous, full-fledged bank.
From 2010, the banking unit will be transformed into a separate company to better position it in the country's financial sector.
In 2009, Cabinet approved the Post Bank Bill and SAPO noted that improvements had already been made to its current IT infrastructure.
SAPO previously announced it would spend R30 million on access and surveillance systems, and R9 million per year on vehicle tracking systems to improve security features across the organisation.
The company added that it had invested R15 million on an anti-money laundering and fraud detection system for the bank in an effort to secure critical banking processes.
Extending services
Post Bank, whose deposits rose 14%, to R3.3 billion, in the year to end-March 2009, has the biggest share of low-cost Mzansi accounts, introduced by local banks in 2004 to extend banking services to the poor.
The restructuring of the unit is part of government's strategy to provide a wider range of accessible, relevant and affordable financial services products to those without bank accounts and low-income earners.
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