FirstRand takes a leaf from Amazon's book to capture consumers

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FirstRand Ltd is emulating Amazon.com Inc with a digital offering that will span everything from insurance, car license renewals to locating plumbing services as the South African bank chases new revenue sources.

Africa’s biggest lender by market value is pushing customers to make more use of its mobile-banking applications by extending the services it offers through “applets” within the main interface, chief executive officer Alan Pullinger said in an interview at Bloomberg’s Johannesburg offices. These include connecting home buyers and sellers, house valuations, tracking an investment portfolio or linking its business clients to consumers.