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Achieving a Frictionless Customer Experience in Fintech (By Lelen Udayan)

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fintech

Modern customers expect fintechs to focus as much on the experience they provide as the products and services being offered

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, February 14, 2023/APO Group/ — 

By Lelen Udayan, head of customer experience at Mukuru (www.Mukuru.com)

By definition, a truly frictionless customer experience (CX) is unobtainable even though it is the end state every fintech company strives for. Along the way, the focus falls on providing enhanced experiences that stem from the points of friction identified across the customer journey. In doing so, businesses can improve on the products, processes, and services they deliver.

According to Gartner (https://apo-opa.info/3lyxYiG), this requires fintechs to remove the elements that create unnecessary friction or make it unnecessarily difficult for customers to access products and services. To this end, Gartner repositions (https://apo-opa.info/3E4pZ3f) frictionless as rather about creating an effortless experience. This is important as it shifts the spotlight from what it calls ‘feel good’ moments that have low impact on loyalty or repeat business. Instead, more attention is put on using CX as the means to secure repeat business while reducing operating costs.

Removing friction

Modern customers expect fintechs to focus as much on the experience they provide as the products and services being offered. An enhanced experience is important because it shows customers that the fintech acknowledges its failures and is working on improving those areas while also removing the elements that can lead to dissatisfaction.

For an organisation like Mukuru, increasing customer satisfaction, retention, and referrals are largely due to making sure pain points are seen, heard, and addressed. This is done by tracking the customer journey, measuring satisfaction, and customer effort. Additionally, Mukuru (https://apo-opa.info/3lB0396) ensures that customer sentiment and the voice of the customer are prioritised across the business.

Fundamentally, the only way a fintech can remove friction is to ensure its service teams are equipped to assist customers when they do have a problem, query, or complaint.

Channels of engagement

Fundamentally, the only way a fintech can remove friction is to ensure its service teams are equipped to assist customers when they do have a problem, query, or complaint

For this to happen, the company must embrace all of the channels within its capabilities to invest in an omnichannel CX. A PWC report (https://apo-opa.info/3RVAiw4) found that the number of companies doing this has increased by more than 60% in recent years.

Closer to home, the State of CX in South Africa 2022 report (https://apo-opa.info/3YvNAlF) writes that 45% of financial sector respondents identified seamless omnichannel experience on their channel of choice as the main factor influencing customer satisfaction. As many as 64% of local fintech’s have fully implemented virtual assistants and chatbots or are in the process of doing so as critical enablers of this omnichannel experience. Similarly, 27% of companies in financial services have installed bots on messaging apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, compared to only 7% average in other sectors.

At Mukuru, our purpose is to enable greater degrees of financial inclusion for customers on the African continent – still predominantly cash-based – and globally, which is why we take a tailored approach to customer channels. Channels such as USSD and WhatsApp perform well across Africa, whereas our App is a more relevant channel for UK customers. We have seen the impact of this strategy with WhatsApp, our biggest transacting customer channel in South Africa, where the proportion of transacting customers have almost doubled in the last 3 years.

The golden thread running through a successful omnichannel strategy is how best to meet customer expectations. This requires providing the right fintech employees with the tools, systems and processes to effectively support customers. With these in place, the most common points of friction can be addressed. These include things like resolution time and understanding who the customer really is. In the case of the former, the challenges encompass response times and why the first point of contact might not have the answer. When it comes to the latter, it is about knowing who the individual customer is without having them provide different pieces of information at every engagement point.

FinTech’s must therefore be more consistent and remove the frustration of customers repeating the query to every person in the engagement chain or, even worse, having to phone back at a later stage. Furthermore, the value of self-services cannot be ignored as digital-savvy customers might prefer to resolve the common queries they have themselves.

Through all of this, the fintech must have access to fit-for-purpose tools, competent staff, and efficient processes across product lines and platforms.

Continuous journey

One of the biggest mistakes any fintech can make is to assume that creating a frictionless experience is a once-off exercise. As mentioned, becoming frictionless is an end goal that will never be fully realised. Driving this is setting the business up to learn from its past CX mistakes.

To do so requires the process of CX improvements to be formalised and rolled out to all applicable areas of the business. Service staff must be empowered to resolve customer pain points. Additionally, there is a growing need to establish effective self-service solutions where customers become less reliant on human touch points. Perhaps most crucially, customer success can only be realised by continually monitoring the journey, touchpoints, and the voice of the customer.

All of this can be distilled into initiating a CX project, implementing it, and then iterating as needed. Mukuru (https://apo-opa.info/3lB0396) has made CX a part of its ethos. This enables the business to continually drive improvements in this space. FinTech’s should strive to make every customer interaction with the business a positive one.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Mukuru.

Business

ST Telemedia Global Data Centres Delivers on Responsible Scaling, Surpassing 2028 Carbon Intensity Target Three Years Early with Renewables at 83.2%

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ST Telemedia

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 21 July 2026 – ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) today published its 2025 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report, setting out how the Singapore-headquartered global data centre provider is meeting accelerating demand, including from AI-driven workloads, through infrastructure that is more resilient, efficient and sustainable by design. The report highlights 83.2% renewable energy usage, a 70.5% reduction in carbon intensity from its 2021 baseline, 41.2% improvement in water usage effectiveness (WUE) from the 2020 baseline, and continued progress in embedding ESG considerations into how STT GDC designs, builds, finances and operates its data centres at scale.

The report positions responsible growth as a core business discipline for STT GDC, linking sustainability performance to long-term asset resilience, customer trust and operational excellence. Across its global platform, STT GDC is integrating ESG considerations into capital allocation, site selection, design, operations, risk management and workforce development to support reliable digital infrastructure at scale.

Bruno Lopez, President and Group Chief Executive Officer, ST Telemedia Global Data Centres, says, “The next phase of digital growth will be defined by how the industry resolves the tension between rising demand — particularly from AI — and the finite nature of energy, water and land. Responsible scaling is therefore not a sustainability commitment alone; it is a commercial and operational imperative that shapes where we build, how we design, and how we run our data centre platform. Our 2025 progress reflects disciplined execution of a strategy we have been advancing for years, delivering meaningful improvements in energy efficiency, emissions and resource management across our global platform. As we scale further, we will continue to advance with the same discipline — in the infrastructure we build, the governance that underpins it, and the positive impact we create for the communities and ecosystems we are part of.”

Scaling efficient, lower-carbon infrastructure

STT GDC continued to advance its decarbonisation strategy in 2025, delivering measurable reductions in emissions and improvements in resource efficiency while scaling its global data centre platform to meet rising digital demand. The Group’s approach focuses on embedding sustainability into the design and operation of its infrastructure, enabling long-term performance while managing growing energy and resource requirements. Key environmental achievements include:

Furthered renewable energy adoption, with 83.2% of electricity consumption sourced from renewables, supporting STT GDC’s transition towards carbon-neutral operations by 2030.
Reduced carbon intensity by 70.5% from the 2021 baseline, surpassing STT GDC’s 2028 target three years ahead of schedule, alongside a 15.2% year-on-year reduction in absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions
Improved energy efficiency across operations, achieving an average Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.44, a 13.0% improvement from the 2020 baseline, reflecting continued optimisation of data centre design and operations.
Enhanced water stewardship, with Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE) improving by 41.2% from the 2020 baseline, supported by a balanced approach to managing energy and water use in cooling systems.
Continued progress in sustainable infrastructure, with 48% of its data centres achieving green building certification, reflecting the integration of sustainability considerations across the lifecycle of its facilities.
Building a safe and future-ready workforce

As STT GDC continues to scale its global data centre platform, investing in people, safety and workforce capabilities remains central to delivering reliable and sustainable operations. In 2025, the Group maintained a strong focus on safeguarding its workforce, strengthening organisational capability and supporting the development of future-ready talent to meet the growing demands of the digital economy. Key social achievements include:

Maintained strong safety performance, with zero work-related fatalities and a Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) of 0.1 across more than 41 million hours worked, reflecting robust health and safety management across construction and operations.
Strengthened workforce capability, with an average of 18 training hours per employee, supporting the development of technical, operational and leadership skills across the organisation.
Advanced diversity and inclusion, with 21.7% women representation across the Group, reinforcing ongoing efforts to build a more inclusive and balanced workforce.
Expanded talent development initiatives, including the DC Power Up programme and partnerships with 10 Institutes of Higher Learning across our markets, helping to build a pipeline of industry-ready talent for the growing digital infrastructure sector.
Deepened community and workforce engagement, through skills development programmes and industry-academic partnerships that support long-term talent development and contribute to local economic growth.
Strengthening Governance and Resilience at Scale

Strong governance, disciplined risk management and robust operational controls underpin STT GDC’s ability to scale responsibly in an increasingly complex digital environment. In 2025, the Group continued to strengthen its enterprise-wide approach to governance, embedding ESG considerations into decision-making, risk management and day-to-day operations to support long-term resilience and performance. Key achievements include:

Strengthened governance and ethical business practices, with 100% of employees completing anti-corruption training, reinforcing STT GDC’s commitment to integrity and accountability across its global operations.
Enhanced enterprise-wide risk management, incorporating climate, cybersecurity and operational risks into planning and decision-making, ensuring infrastructure resilience as the Group scales.
Advanced cybersecurity and operational resilience, including strengthened governance, technical controls and preparedness through initiatives such as executive-level cyber exercises and risk assessments across key facilities.
Improved supply chain governance, embedding ESG criteria into procurement processes and reinforcing responsible sourcing practices across its global vendor network.
Strengthened organisational alignment and execution, through the inaugural Group ESG Summit, supporting capability building and consistent application of ESG priorities across markets.
These efforts come as data centre operators face growing expectations to deliver capacity while managing energy, water, climate and cybersecurity risks with greater transparency and accountability.

STT GDC’s 2025 ESG Report reflects a continued evolution in how the Group approaches sustainable growth, with a stronger focus on disciplined execution, operational resilience and long-term performance as it scales its global platform. As digital infrastructure becomes increasingly critical to economies and societies, STT GDC will continue to embed sustainability, risk management and governance into how it designs, builds and operates its data centres.

By working closely with customers, partners and communities, the Group aims to deliver infrastructure that is not only efficient and resilient, but also capable of supporting the next phase of digital growth, including AI-driven workloads, in a responsible and sustainable way.

The full 2025 ESG Report is available at https://www.sttelemediagdc.com/about-us/our-esg-progress

About ST Telemedia Global Data Centres
ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) is one of the fastest-growing data centre providers with a global platform serving as a cornerstone of the digital ecosystem that helps the world to connect. Powering a sustainable digital future, STT GDC operates across Singapore, the UK, Germany, Italy, India, Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam, providing businesses an exceptional foundation that is built for their growth anywhere. For more information, visit https://www.sttelemediagdc.com/

 

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Energy

London Showcase to Bring Venezuela’s Energy Opportunities to Global Investors Ahead of 2026 Summit

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A high-level London industry showcase on July 30 will bring together UK and European investors, financiers and energy leaders to explore emerging opportunities across Venezuela’s oil, gas and power sectors ahead of Venezuela Energy Week 2026

LONDON, United Kingdom, July 17, 2026/APO Group/ –As Venezuela accelerates efforts to revitalize its energy sector and attract international investment, Venezuela Energy Week 2026 will host an exclusive Industry Showcase in London on July 30, bringing together investors, financial institutions, international oil companies, commodity traders and energy executives for market intelligence, networking and partnership development ahead of the flagship conference taking place this October in Caracas.

 

Designed as a strategic preview of the main event, the London showcase will provide UK and European stakeholders with first-hand insight into Venezuela’s evolving investment landscape while creating opportunities for commercial dialogue with industry leaders, potential partners and key decision-makers.

Home to the world’s largest proven oil reserves and significant natural gas resources, Venezuela is entering a new phase of energy development focused on increasing production, expanding gas commercialization and modernizing critical infrastructure. Ongoing reforms and renewed international engagement are creating opportunities for companies able to provide capital, technology and technical expertise.

The timing is particularly significant as several UK and European energy companies continue to strengthen their presence in Venezuela. UK-based majors Shell and BP are advancing key natural gas developments, with Shell preparing for 2027 drilling at the Dragon offshore gas project and BP signing agreements in April to develop the Cocuina-Manakin offshore gas field, marking its return to the Venezuelan market. Spain’s Repsol recently announced plans to increase production from its Venezuelan assets, while Italy’s Eni is relaunching a heavy crude project in the Orinoco Belt. France’s Maurel & Prom, meanwhile, remains a key partner in strategic assets such as the Urdaneta Oeste field. On the trading and commercialization front, Geneva-headquartered energy trader Vitol has renewed its engagement with Venezuelan crude exports, reflecting broader international interest in reconnecting the country’s resources with global markets.

Against this backdrop, the London Industry Showcase will highlight Venezuela’s re-emerging investment potential while creating a platform for strategic networking and direct engagement with government leaders, national energy companies, regulators and private sector partners.

The event is expected to attract representatives from investment funds, export credit agencies, commercial banks, private equity firms, commodity traders, engineering companies, technology providers and UK-based independent energy companies exploring opportunities across Venezuela’s energy value chain.

The showcase will also provide an exclusive preview of Venezuela Energy Week 2026, including ministerial dialogues, executive forums, technical conferences and dedicated business-to-business networking sessions designed to connect international investors with the decision-makers shaping the country’s energy future.

Taking place on October 26–29, 2026 in Caracas, Venezuela Energy Week serves as the country’s premier platform for advancing investment across the oil, gas and power sectors. By bringing the conversation to London – one of the world’s leading financial and energy centers – the Industry Showcase builds momentum ahead of the flagship event while strengthening ties between international capital and one of the world’s most resource-rich energy markets.

To participate in the London Industry Showcase on July 30 or secure your place at Venezuela Energy Week 2026 in Caracas this October, contact info@venezuelaenergyweek.com to learn more about delegate, sponsorship and partnership opportunities.

Supporting Venezuela’s Earthquake Recovery

 

Our thoughts are with the people and communities affected by the recent earthquakes in Venezuela. As the country begins the long process of recovery, we encourage members of the global energy community to support relief and reconstruction efforts through the CAF Recovery and Reconstruction Fund for Venezuela, which channels contributions from individuals, companies and organizations to emergency assistance, essential services and long-term rebuilding efforts.

 

To learn more or make a contribution, please visit the CAF Recovery and Reconstruction Fund for Venezuela (https://apo-opa.co/3RKKqfz).

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Energy Capital & Power.

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Events

October 2-4, 2026, Announced as New Date for the Inaugural Alamein Africa Forum

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The Forum which was earlier scheduled to hold in June 2026 was postponed following concerns about the evolving public health situation on the continent at the time

The Government of Egypt and the African Union Commission alongside other key stakeholders and partners are pleased to announce new dates for the inaugural Alamein Africa Forum (www.AlameinForum.com).

 

The Forum which was earlier scheduled to hold in June 2026 was postponed following concerns about the evolving public health situation on the continent at the time.

The inaugural Alamein Africa Forum will now be held between October 2-4, 2026, in Alamein, Egypt following consultations between the relevant stakeholders. It will be held in parallel with the African Union mid-year Summit which will take place in Alamein on 4 October 2026.

Please accept our sincere appreciation for your understanding, flexibility and continued support.

The Forum presents a unique opportunity to engage key policy makers, including African Heads of State and Government, as well as senior leaders from finance, industry and institutional investors to advance Africa’s private sector agenda.

Additional information regarding accommodation and logistics as well as the Forum programme will be made available on the Forum website as soon as next week.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Alamein Africa Forum.

 

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