Fintech software and services company nCino KYC Africa has urged companies within the South African financial services ecosystem to mobilise AI to fend off AI-driven attacks, increase collaboration and build resilience as financial services continue to be targeted.
nCino KYC Africa’s core business is to provide the solutions companies require to comply with the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA).
At the fintech firm’s third annual Fighting Financial Crime 2026 conference hosted in Bryanston this week, Tertia Barrett, area VP of sales at nCino KYC, opened with a reminder of the scale of global financial crime.
Human trafficking generates $16 trillion per year, said Barrett, and every dollar has to be laundered. In SA, bank fraud cost R3.9 billion in 2025, a 23% increase from 2024, she noted.
“The scale of financial crime is staggering," she said, "in a world where compliance is a checklist item, or where organisations turn a blind eye rather than being part of the solution.”
Barrett added that financial crime continues to evolve at pace, does not take time off and does not sleep. “Today is about looking at the challenges, and the way to address financial crime is for us to collaborate and refuse to look the other way.”
AI is part of the fight on both sides, said Barrett.
The event covered topics including financial crime patterns in SA, the importance of a compliance culture, regulatory expectations and industry response, human trafficking and modern-day slavery, as well as how fraud and anti-money laundering, AI, crypto and quantum are redrawing the financial crime battlefield.
Approach to compliance
Speaking to ITWeb on the sidelines of the event, Barrett said many companies view compliance as a box-ticking exercise, losing sight of why it is necessary.
“Financial crime doesn’t take a day off. It doesn’t care about budgets, about risk management and compliance programmes,” she said, adding that the main reason for the event was to highlight on the relevance and impact of FICA.
While the event focused on compliance with FICA and the best approach to curb financial crime, money laundering and terrorist funding, the issue of cyber crime is closely related.
“We’re using AI to fight AI. Our technology is using AI to be bold and pick up where AI is being used to commit financial crime."
While Barrett acknowledged the pace and sophistication of cyber attacks, often underpinned by AI, she believes the financial services ecosystem is making a difference.
“We’re making it harder. We’re forcing them to constantly get better. We are stopping it wherever we can.”
Share
