The effect of blockchain technology on the South African banking environment
Date
2018
Authors
Gray, Jared
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Abstract
Blockchain technology is a foundational technology with various use cases that can significantly impact the manner in which banking is carried out in South Africa. The following paper seeks to put together a framework for understanding the potential effect of blockchain technology on the South African banking environment, with a specific focus on how blockchain technology will impact the South African banking environment (i.e. the applications and use cases) and when this impact will take place. A qualitative approach to addressing the problem statement was adopted, specifically in the form of focus interviews and strategic discussions with subject matter experts in both the blockchain and South African banking environment. Findings indicate that there are number of blockchain applications that can impact the South African banking environment namely, Private Digital Ledgers, Smart Contracts and Tokens/ Cryptocurrencies. Further to this, research indicates that the former is most likely in the short term, while the latter two applications are subject to a high-level stakeholder coordination, a high level of effort in educating the end customer and a high level of friction from existing systems and process, and will therefore only realise mass adoption in the long-term. As a result, this research contributes to providing an initial view of which applications are most likely to be adopted by South African banks and can form the foundation for further research in this area.
Description
A research article submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration
Johannesburg, 2018
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Citation
Gray,Jared Peter (2018) The effect of blockchain technology on the South African banking environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, <http://hdl.handle.net/10539/28495>