'Hosting banks IT systems abroad reduces costs'

The minister said the IT systems of the Botswana banks' subsidiaries are hosted and maintained locally though they are integrated into regional hubs or international group IT centres.Seretse cited the South African subsidiary banks' IT systems. He said the systems are hosted in Botswana and integrated into parent bank IT systems hosted in South Africa.

"It is the view of government that the current arrangements for banking IT systems in Botswana add value to bank customers in that the cost of banking services becomes relatively cheaper, more convenient and has allowed for improvements in the provision of banking services," said Seretse.The Assistant Minister informed Parliament that all the commercial banks in Botswana are subsidiaries of foreign banks with operations in many countries and markets.He explained that IT systems are hosted and maintained both in Botswana and at group level in countries such as Kenya, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Singapore.