ABSA
Type of project: Replace the GL Ledger solution in 10 African countries starting with Kenya as the pilot, followed by South Africa.
Technology: SAP FICO, SAP COPA, SAP Solman, SAP ASAP, SAP HR
Subject matter learnings: Banking General Ledger processes and data that feeds into the General Ledger including Assets, Liabilities, Equity, Revenue, Expenses. Journals, Trial balance, etc. Developing business hierarchies and access control per process for Branch, Area, Municipality, Province, Country, Territory to Head Office General Ledger. Launching a comprehensive master data cleanse programme of work that included data standards, governance and embedded compliance, and Africa-wide training and cleanse activities. SAP Transformation programme and roll out by redesigning the finance structure to one unified journal, AI automation and integration and central finance deployment without disrupting existing operations. Developing a change management tool set and change management strategy suitable for Absa Africa and the delivery parameters of 12 month to pilot complete.
Brief: Extract all General Ledger solutions from each department and replace with SAP GL. Ensuring data standards and compliance aligned to new standards. Combined with a Coupa procurement roll out that transformed and delivered new procurement and payment processes to ensure successful GL delivery. Improve data, reporting and financial regulatory compliance – standardised across all countries.
Solution: Absa replaced legacy systems with cloud, AI-ready SAP technologies in a large-scale transformation programme that ran for over 10 years. The GL-solution was one small part of Project Owari that transformed Absa’s operations using the Barclays SAP platform.
A significant amount of work took place during the Covid 19 lockdown and as the cross-border teams learned to work from home, they rewrote the way the business works cross border, streamlining for a more future-ready solution.
STANDARD BANK
Type of project: Launch of Standard Bank’s First Online Banking Platform
Technology: Early internet banking solutions were developed on traditional IBM and Fujitsu mainframe systems. Standard Bank’s backend
• originally engineered to support the national branch network
• was adapted to operate securely over lower‑security internet channels.
Performance and scalability across the web, client, and server tiers were validated using Mercury LoadRunner.
Subject matter learnings: • Defining the strategic problem statement: How will internet banking transform banking operations, branch services, and paper‑based processes?
• Navigating banking regulations and customer data‑security requirements.
• Conducting technology research and managing RFP/RFI processes for backend, frontend, security, and data‑storage components.
• Addressing customer trust, digital adoption, and behavioural change.
Brief: Research, recommend best‑practice approaches, plan, and deliver Standard Bank’s first online banking capability.
Solution: While working at Datatech on the Absa Internet Banking project, the company entered liquidation. Three colleagues and I established a specialist digital agency, which was subsequently acquired by Standard Bank. As part of the acquisition, the three of us were contracted for three years to lead and deliver the bank’s inaugural internet banking platform.
Working in partnership with Standard Bank’s senior strategic and banking teams, we selected key technology providers and engaged with government stakeholders to secure approval for presenting customer data over the internet. This included developing white papers and participating in industry‑wide lobbying efforts alongside Nedbank and First National Bank. (Absa withdrew from the initiative due to concerns about the potential impact on its branch network.)
Outcomes and Evolution: Pilot programmes commenced three months into the project, enabling customers to access balances and basic account information via WAP, WIG, and USSD—channels still in use today.
The platform has since evolved into a modern digital banking ecosystem incorporating cloud technologies, Azure, semantic modelling, AI, robotics, mobile applications, SWIFT, multi‑factor authentication, and SAP.