Vusumuzi Dube
Business Reporter
THE Computer Society of Zimbabwe (CSZ) has said information communication technologies (ICTs) continue to revolutionise access to banking services across the country to promote inclusivity.
Zimbabwe is one of the African countries that have made notable progress in the expansion of access to formal financial services, promoting inclusive development.
In a recent interview, on the sidelines of the CSZ Winter School in Bulawayo, CSZ vice president, Mr Freddy Ndhlovu said the banking sector should continue to promote inclusion and also upscale artificial intelligence adoption.
“We all have to adopt AI a technology that can improve efficiencies and operational processing as well as management in organisations. It relates to the national agenda in terms of the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) which speaks to leaving no one behind and everyone has to come on board,” he said.
“If you look at the financial technology (fintech) industry it allows anyone who could be in the remotest of places to be able to access financial services using mobile phones and any other devices that they may have.”
He said fintech plays a key role in providing financial services to all levels of society, underserved or marginalised groups including women and youths, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), rural communities and smallholder farmers, people with disabilities, pensioners and the elderly.
Mr Ndhlovu said it was important for the financial sector to invest in AI and up-to-date systems that detect fraudulent activities to protect customers.
“In terms of preventing fraudulent activities, when you have AI it actually then keeps record of data and behaviour of the applicants. In terms of credit scoring, it will be done by the AI system and you will also then have end-to-end security. There is need for the financial sector players to invest in the security tools that actually prevent fraudulent activities.”
CSZ Bulawayo Chapter secretary, Mr Calipher Ndlovu called on ICT specialists to move beyond just talking about AI and start implementing it on full scale.
“AI has affected every aspect of human life and transformed the financial services industry. It has moved beyond the initial hype and science fiction to provide practical use cases that help organisations improve decision-making, operational efficiency and customer experience,” he said.
“The financial sector should upscale their AI technologies to improve the automation of repetitive tasks such as data entry, compliance checks, reduce errors and allow human resources to focus on more complex tasks.”
Girls in Stem Trust founder and executive director, Ms Victoria Nxumalo said there were ethical considerations in AI for fintech.
“Al systems must avoid existing biases in society, and developers need to ensure fair and unbiased algorithms. Also, be on the watch out as complex Al algorithms can be difficult to understand and interpret, creating transparency issues and as some scenarios escalate, accountability issues for both developers of the platforms and the organisations that use these platforms may arise,” she said.
This year the Winter School ran under the theme: “Practical Applications of AI in Fintech: Moving Beyond the Hype.”
The Government has made notable strides in reducing the number of unbanked individuals in the country through various initiatives under the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) and will continue to take advantage of technology to roll out further financial inclusion interventions.
Since 2014, Zimbabwe has witnessed rapid growth in financial inclusion, reducing the financial exclusion gap from 23 percent to less than 2 percent by 2022.
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