THE provision of banking and financial services in SA is a highly regulated activity, but revolutionary financial technology (fintech) poses a significant challenge to the current framework. This was acknowledged by the South African Reserve Bank in a position paper on virtual currencies issued in 2014.
Fintech has the potential to disrupt traditional financial and banking services. Blockchain, a peer-to-peer ledger system in which users record their transactions with each other, cuts out the middleman and the associated cost.
As the traditional provision of financial and banking services becomes increasingly irrelevant and as fintech-based selfservice solutions become more prevalent, can the South African regulatory regime ensure that this happens safely?
http://www.bdlive.co.za/opinion/2016/08/23/fintech-will-force-regulators-to-update
