A 𝟭𝟬 % shift in financial inclusion could unlock more than 𝙍𝟯𝟬 𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙤𝙣 in GDP growth for South Africa. Simply by giving people access to their own financial data.
That is the quiet power of open banking.
Across South Africa, a large part of the economy operates in plain sight, yet remains financially invisible. Income is earned, transactions happen, businesses trade, but too often this activity never becomes usable financial data. When data cannot be seen, access to credit becomes harder, risk is mispriced, and growth slows.
This is where open banking starts to matter.
truID sits on the frontlines of financial inclusion, processing 𝟮𝟬𝟬 𝟬𝟬𝟬+ financial documents every month and supporting 𝟰𝟬+ credit providers. Across the broader ecosystem, up to 𝟭𝟬𝟬 lenders already rely, directly or indirectly, on open-banking principles to verify income, assess affordability, reduce fraud, and onboard customers faster.
The impact is not theoretical. It is deeply human.
In the informal sector alone, 𝟭.𝟯 million people could be directly impacted through better access to credit, higher productivity, and stronger businesses. This part of the economy already contributes 𝙍𝟯𝟬𝟬–𝙍𝟯𝟱𝟬 𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙤𝙣 each year, with a further 𝙍𝟯𝟬–𝙍𝟴𝟳𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙤𝙣 within reach through financing, tools, and semi-formal pathways.
For credit-invisible consumers, the question becomes even more tangible: What if open banking could empower 𝟮.𝟭 million South Africans?
A modest 𝟭𝟬 % inclusion shift, paired with access to just 𝙍𝟭𝟬 𝟬𝟬𝟬 in productive credit, could unlock 𝙍𝟮𝟭 𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙤𝙣, driving 𝙍𝟯𝟬𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙤𝙣+ in broader economic impact across households, education, services, and township and rural economies.
In total, the opportunity is to meaningfully uplift around 𝟯 million lives. This is what open banking makes possible when data is treated as shared infrastructure.
But this outcome can only be achieved through industry-wide collaboration. Something that is still not a reality in South Africa. Our P2 post unpacks the current data-access landscape and exposes some uncomfortable, and at times shocking, realities.
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