The perceived value of data analytics in the South African banking sector

Abstract

Big data analytics is a technological process that covers the processing, arranging, categorization, and analysing of large voluminous data for purposeful usage by organizations. Big data analytics has in recent times become a buzz word as it proliferates exponentially within the banking sector in South Africa due to the maturity of storage, information technology and human skills within the domain of data. Despite this, there is little literature on big data analytics within the South African banking industry. It is evident that there is utilization of big data analytics tools and processes in the banking sector, but one question remains, is there value in South African banks derive from integrating big data analytics. The objective of this study is to understand the perception on the value of big data analytics held by South African banking senior management and executives. The researcher aims to understand if big data analytics is a mere tool to perform basic analysis with little to no power to add value in business outcomes. The perception of seeing BDA as an analysis tool has led to the undervaluing of big data analytics within the South African banking industry as there are no group executive seats with data or analytics titles. To achieve the intended research outcome of this study this research adopts the qualitative approach method. The data is collected through unstructured interviews across four major banks in South Africa. A purposive sampling strategy was employed in selecting the respondents. Data analysis is conducted through thematic analysis.

This study found three global themes banking executives perceived to be valuable from adopting big data analytics. These were: (1) The state of big data analytics in banking, (2) Data Skills, (3) Driver of insights. The sub themes from the state of big data analytics in banking were: (1) Processing of the right data, (2) High volumes of data in the repository, (3) advanced analytics and the right tools to analyse data. The sub themes from data skills were: (1) resources, (2) technical skills. Lastly, the sub themes from the driver of insights were: (1) organization’s performance, (2) competitiveness in banking, (3) fighting fraud and financial crime.