By Bongani Hini
South Africa has long framed financial inclusion as a numbers game. How many people have bank accounts. How many use mobile money. How many can access credit. But inclusion is about more than just access. It’s about agency, dignity and protection.
As the country moves further into digital finance, we have to ask ourselves: what are we including people into?
If the answer is a system where data is collected without consent, shared without oversight and monetised without benefit to the individual, then inclusion starts to look like exploitation. Just in digital form.
The Cost We Don’t See
Digital tools have changed the game. Mobile banking apps, buy-now-pay-later schemes and online lenders offer easier, faster ways to manage money. For many South Africans, especially young or unbanked people, these platforms are the first real way into the financial system.
But they also ask for a lot. Every tap, transaction or sign-up leaves behind a digital footprint. Identity numbers, income patterns, location data. In the wrong hands or in the absence of protection, this information can be used against the very people it’s meant to help.
From spam and profiling to unfair credit scoring and targeted scams, the risks are real. And most people don’t know who holds their data, where it’s stored or what’s being done with it.
Inclusion Must Mean Protection Too
If we want true financial inclusion, it can’t stop at access. It has to include data rights. The right to know. The right to choose. The right to say no.
Yet these rights are often left out of South Africa’s inclusion strategies. Policies celebrate how many people have joined the system but rarely ask whether the system is working for them.
We do have laws, like the Protection of Personal Information Act. But enforcement is patchy. In fintech especially, compliance is often treated as a checklist rather than a responsibility. And for many people in lower-income or rural communities, the idea of data rights isn’t even on the radar.
Real Consent Is Rare
On paper, consent sounds empowering. But in practice, especially in a multilingual and low-literacy country like ours, it often isn’t.
People are nudged to agree to terms they don’t understand. They don’t know what they’re giving up. And they usually don’t have another option.
We need to stop pretending that tick-box consent is enough. We need to design systems that are clear and accessible. Where people know what they’re agreeing to. Where consent is real.
The Algorithm Knows Best?
As more financial services rely on automated decision-making, a new challenge has emerged.
Algorithms now help decide who gets credit, who qualifies for a loan, even who gets flagged for fraud. But if those systems are built on biased or incomplete data, they can lock people out unfairly without them ever knowing why.
Data protection isn’t just about privacy. It’s about fairness.
Who gets included. Who gets excluded. And who gets to decide.
It’s Time to Expand the Meaning of Inclusion
Inclusion shouldn’t mean handing over your data with no questions asked. It should mean being part of a system that respects you, informs you and protects you.
That kind of inclusion takes work.
Policymakers, fintechs and regulators all have a role to play. It means:
• Designing apps and platforms that put the user first
• Creating simple, transparent rules about how data can be shared
• Making it easy to report abuse or bias
• Teaching people what their rights are and how to use them
We also need a shift in mindset. Data isn’t just information. It’s personal. It’s political. And it should be treated with care.
Inclusion Is Nothing Without Protection
We talk a lot about innovation. But what we need is intention.
If we want to build a digital financial system that works for all South Africans, we can’t just focus on access. We have to start with trust.
And that means making data protection part of the inclusion story from day one.
Because real inclusion gives people more than access. It gives them power. It gives them choice. It gives them the right to say: this data is mine.