New digital lifestyle platform attracts young generation
JOHANNESBURG – The construction of the product began in 2016 when a group of young graduates at the bank were asked to build an offering.
Standard Bank launched a unique, turnkey digital lifestyle platform designed for the youth market in Johannesburg on 10 December.
The platform combines banking, lifestyle and social functions for a generation that is accustomed to managing their day-to-day needs with the flick of a thumb across a mobile screen.
The Sorted digital lifestyle platform is the first of its kind to be launched in South Africa and, according to the officials, it is linked to a prepaid debit card.
It is designed to bring lifestyle requirements under one ‘roof’ enabling young Standard Bank customers to keep their fingers on the pulse of their busy lives through a range of specifically-designed tools.
The Sorted platform is unique in several aspects, said Lincoln Mali, head of the card and emerging payments at Standard Bank. He said it is a platform which supports the young, constantly moving and innovative lifestyles of the new generation of customers.
Mali added that Sorted enables the user to access multiple lifestyle services including social media products under a single digital platform. “The banking aspects of the digital platform run in the background and are ready to support the user whenever financial capability is required,” said Mali.
“What makes it stand out as a new generation banking product is that it is customisable. Partners, at this stage mainly tertiary institutions and schools, are able to brand the linked Sorted debit card, which enables the financial services and issues it to students who can exclusively access and use ‘institution-specific’ offerings that are part of the Sorted platform.”
The banking tradition of having solutions designed and then sold onto consumer niches has been ‘totally turned on its head’ for the development of Sorted, said Mali.
He further explained that the construction of the product began in 2016 when a group of young graduates at the bank were asked to build an offering. “We were conscious that the Sorted challenge was different. We had to change the perception of banking held by the younger market and set out to achieve this by showing that banking can be innovative. Our approach was to work towards concentrating on delivering a ‘Customer Power of One’ experience by designing a platform that was customisable to individual needs.
“We believe we have achieved our objective by delivering a solution that seamlessly delivers solutions that our younger customers want.”
Although Sorted was created to serve the 18 to 23-year-old market, Mali said they believe it will also appeal to parents who have children in school who wish to experience some financial independence.
In the event of a Sorted account being used by a minor, parent monitoring of financial transactions can be enabled, concluded Mali.
Details: Selloane Moleli selloane.moleli@magna-carta.co.za
