In this Business Talk with Michael Avery interview, Standard Bank’s Kent Marais and Ontiretse Modise discuss how South Africa’s payment ecosystem has evolved in recent years to address cybersecurity threats.

Marais is the Head of Payments and Collections at Standard Bank CIB, and has worked at the bank for over 13 years.

During this time, he has held several important positions - including Head of TPS Product Management, Group Head of Digital Channels, and Head of Platform Domain.

Before this, he worked as the General Manager of Africa Transactional Banking Services at Nedbank.

Modise is the South African Head of Cash Management and Transaction Banking for Standard Bank CIB.

He has worked for Standard Bank since starting his career as a financial analyst in 2007.

In this Business Talk interview, Marais and Modise detail how the payments landscape in South Africa has changed in recent years.

Modise unpacks the new security risks that have emerged due to these changes – after which Marais explains how these risks have forced financial institutions to improve their cybersecurity posture.

Modise then reveals the areas where Standard Bank CIB has implemented major cybersecurity improvements to protect customer data.

Marais concludes the interview by offering advice to businesses that regularly process payments.