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The Banking Association of South Africa
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The Banking Association of South Africa (BASA) is an organization that represents and works with the banks in South Africa.
It was established in 1998 to help banks work together and collaborate on important matters that affect the banking industry and the people of South Africa.
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Which Banks Are BASA Members?
Here is a list of BASA members (as of 2023):
Absa
Access Bank
African Bank
Al Baraka
Bank of China
Bank of Taiwan
Barclays Bank PLC
Bidvest Bank
BNP Paribas
BofA Securities
Communications Bank
Capitec Bank
China Construction Bank
Citibank
Deutsche Bank
Discovery Bank
FinBond Mutual Bank
FirstRand
GBS Mutual Bank
Goldman Sachs
Grindrod Bank
Habib Overseas Bank
HBZ Bank
HSBC Bank
ICICI Bank
Investec
Ithala
JPMorgan Chase
Nedbank
Postbank
Sasfin Bank
Standard Bank
Standard Chartered
State Bank of India
TymeBank
UBank Ltd
As you can see, the list of members is quite extensive and goes beyond the Big 6 (ABSA, Capitec Bank, FNB, Investec, Nedbank and SBSA). You might see a few international brands there that you did not even realise operate locally. Please do note that this list may change over time.
What Do BASA Do?
As you can imagine, BASA, naturally, advocates the views of its member banks on legislation, regulation, and social and economic issues that affect the industry.
BASA regularly (basically, non stop) engage with government and other industry stakeholders to advocate for policies and regulations that support a healthy banking sector and contribute to the overall economic development of South Africa.
For example, in the debt review space, BASA sit on the Credit Industry Forum (CIF) which is run by the National Credit Regulator. In CIF they represent the views of the banks and advocate for things that they would like to see (as DCASA does for Debt Counsellors and PDASA does for PDAs).
What Else Do BASA Do?
One of their main focuses is to try ensure that BASA member banks operate in a fair and responsible way.
They say that they aim to create a banking system that is safe, secure, and transparent for everyone. By regularly meeting with members, they try and keep everyone pretty much on the same page regarding various issues.
BASA tries to set standards and guidelines for banks to follow, making sure they treat their customers fairly and protect consumers money. BASA have various internal policies and guidelines for member banks about a wide variety of topics. While all members might not agree 100% it does help keep or guide most of them so that they don’t end up fighting about everything.
Another thing that they focus on, as an association, is promoting financial literacy since this is very low in South Africa unfortunately. They try to help people (and communities) understand how to manage their money wisely, make better financial decisions, and also to be aware of the different types of banking services available to them. So, some education, some advertising but…in an educational way.
If You Want To Learn More About BASA you can head to their website at: