Author: Editor

By Harsha Maloo, Head of Payments at Synthesis There has been a lot of talk around the corner about PayShap – the new super-fast, low-cost payment rail which has recently launched in South Africa. It aims to foster financial inclusion and open new markets and opportunities. But before we delve deep to explore whether PayShap can increase financial inclusion, lets first understand what financial inclusion is. Financial inclusion is defined as “the access and use of a full suite of quality financial services, at an affordable price, in a convenient manner, delivered by a range of providers in a stable…

In the rapidly evolving world of software development, Java has consistently proven its resilience and adaptability. Its well-known ‘write once, run anywhere’ approach has seen it dominate the programming language landscape for more than two decades. Even today, Java has demonstrated its usefulness in a range of applications from data science and embedded systems to graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and artificial intelligence (AI) operations. This is according to Frik van der Westhuizen, CEO of EQPlus Technologies. “The demand for Java developers has never gone down. It has remained one of the most in-demand programming languages in the world. Java’s versatility…

Annalie Terblanche, COO at SilverBridge Globally, insurers are under pressure to find more innovative ways of delivering on customers’ need for more personalised solutions. Low-code and no-code platforms provide insurers with a more flexible and efficient approach to developing data-driven solutions that enable them to create tailored products based on customer data. Low-code and no-code platforms are powerful tools that simplify and accelerate the application development process. Low-code platforms primarily cater to professional developers and allow them to create applications by visually assembling components with minimal hand-coding. No-code platforms enable non-technical users to build applications without writing any code at…

Skills are a hot commodity in virtually every industry across all sectors globally. The emerging workforce, and so-called Gen Z workers in particular, are in demand and more employers are offering early finish Fridays or summer Fridays as a perk to attract job-seekers. Human capital management experts have recognised the trend and say that while there are benefits in the short term, they have mixed feelings about the long-term implications. Nicol Myburgh, Head: CRS Technologies HCM Business Unit, says this trend is not surprising, especially as international markets reassess their operations to accommodate hybrid employees, and ideas like four-day work…

SoluGrowth, a leading South African business process solutions company with DAC Systems as specialist ERP implementation partner, has recently implemented the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (Business Central) platform at the Food & Beverages Manufacturing Sector Education and Training Authority (FoodBev SETA). The initial phase of the project implemented General Ledger, Budgeting, Journal Entry Process, Cash Management, Asset Management, Creditors/Debtors Management, Vendor Management, Contract Management, Purchasing Management, and Projects functionality as well as Reports. This enabled FoodBev SETA to enjoy a new more robust set of business management tools from the outset. Subsequent to that, the project and technical teams…

By Harsha Maloo, Head of Payments at Synthesis In the rapidly evolving landscape of cross-border payments, one trend stands out as a game-changer: the migration of SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) into the ISO 20022 standards. This shift impacts global banks and holds significant potential for transforming the way we conduct international transactions. With the ISO 20022 standard’s data-rich framework, enhanced transparency, efficiency, and compliance are set to revolutionize the payment ecosystem. In this article, we delve into the future of cross-border payments and explore how the adoption of ISO 20022 is shaping the payment landscape. Unlocking the Power…

Modern point of sale solutions with smart value adds can make a significant difference to small business growth and customer engagement, explains Gareth Corbishley, Commercial Lead at Halo Dot. Most businesses, when faced with the point of sale (POS) conversation, get inundated by potential solutions. It’s a minefield of acronyms, lingo, and depreciating hardware. In the segment of software point of sale (SoftPOS), decision-makers are offered the opportunity to optimise their payments and manage their customer expectations; without the complications associated with traditional POS devices. Small to medium enterprises (SMEs) want insights that can help them make more informed decisions…

Economist and entrepreneur, Alan Levy, has just published a groundbreaking paper detailing a novel strategy to combat the sale of illegal drugs: “The Sellers Dilemma:  Winning the War on Drugs.” In this compelling piece, Levy simplifies the complexities of the illegal drug (ID) market by reducing it into a game with three main players: law enforcement (LE), end-user buyers (EUB), and sellers (S). He argues that the rules of this ‘game’ need a radical change to turn the tide in the war on drugs. Currently, both EUBs and S are deemed offenders, effectively forming a clandestine relationship protecting each other…

Ralph Berndt, sales and marketing director at Syrex South African businesses are turning to the cloud for the storage and management of their data. But even though this brings significant security advantages with it, when compared to on-premises environments, the cloud is not without its challenges especially given how rapidly the threat landscape is evolving. Regardless of whether the data is stored locally or in the cloud, a breach can have serious consequences, including loss of data, damage to reputation, and financial risk. It is surprising to think that the shared responsibility model is still not understood by all companies.…

Why AI is not going to change the world (too much) By Hanno Brink, Machine Learning Engineer at Synthesis LLMs have come onto the scene and really shaken up the technology world over the last couple of months, and it is very clear that this technology unlocks a lot of exciting new possibilities. However, I feel like there seems to be a lot of fear and hype around the technology, and I think that it might be a bit premature. LLMs, as they exist today, are very good at two things: generating text and understanding natural language. Although we have…