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The need to lead in digital, along with stringent regulations and the need for heightened security investments, has made the banking sector one of the biggest spenders on IT – and FirstRand Group , the parent of First National Bank, is no exception. Total IT spend at FirstRand, which also owns Rand Merchant Bank, for the year ending 30 June 2024 reached R19.3-billion, up 8% from R18-billion in 2023. This huge spend is only eclipsed by Standard Bank Group, which in the year ended 31 December 2023 spent R23.2-billion on IT. Some R6-billion of Standard Bank’s IT spending went to staff costs, while software, cloud and technology-related costs made up the bulk of the spend, at R12.3-billion. Staff costs account for the bulk of the group’s IT budget, representing 45% of total IT spend FirstRand’s technology staff costs account for the bulk of the group’s IT budget, representing 45% of total IT spend at R8.4-billion, up 5% year on year. Computer expenses was the second most significant line item at R5.5-billion, up 15% and accounting for 29% of the total. Other components of FirstRand’s IT spend include repairs and maintenance of R620-million, software amortisation of R224-million and professional fees of R2.6-billion. The group’s investments in IT have borne fruit for FNB, whose digital transaction volumes grew by 9% to 801 million. These include transactions in the banking app, online banking and mobile USSD channels. E-wallet In South Africa, FNB’s e-wallet offering had 6.4 million active customers (those conducted at least one transaction in the second six months of the financial year). These are supplemented by a further 1.77 million e-wallets belonging to FNB customers for a total of 8.17 million e-wallets. Read: La-Cell Mouton is new FNB CIO “FNB’s digital channels continued to deliver solid volume growth in line with its strategy to drive customer take-up of digital interfaces and migration to the FNB app, while increased card activity also resulted in good growth in transactional volume,” FirstRand said. – © 2024 NewsCentral Media Don’t miss: Hey big spenders! How much SA banks invest in IT