Localisation as a Superpower: Building in South Africa’s Payments Market with Bank Zero
March 31, 2026
Digital banking, fintech innovation, and payments infrastructure are reshaping financial services worldwide. And South Africa is becoming one of the most interesting markets to watch. In this episode of The Issuer Academy podcast, host Merusha Naidu is joined by Lezanne Human, Co-founder at Bank Zero, and Jeff Parker, CEO of Paymentology. Together, they explore how a branchless, zero-fee digital bank is partnering with a global payments infrastructure leader to unlock South Africa’s massive untapped market and redefine alliance banking across emerging markets.
Digital banking, fintech innovation, and payments infrastructure are reshaping financial services worldwide. And South Africa is becoming one of the most interesting markets to watch. In this episode of The Issuer Academy podcast, host Merusha Naidu is joined by Lezanne Human, Co-founder at Bank Zero, and Jeff Parker, CEO of Paymentology. Together, they explore how a branchless, zero-fee digital bank is partnering with a global payments infrastructure leader to unlock South Africa’s massive untapped market and redefine alliance banking across emerging markets.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to challenge legacy banking assumptions by designing every process as digital-first from day one
- Why localization is a competitive superpower
- The strategic power of embedding compliance into customer experience rather than treating it as friction
- How to identify genuine partnership alignment
- Why successful digital banks must be intentional about their target segment and value proposition
Lezanne Human is Co-founder at Bank Zero, bringing deep expertise in challenging traditional banking models and building digital-first financial institutions. With a background in the banking industry, Lezanne identified critical pain points that legacy banks fail to address and co-founded Bank Zero to solve them through innovative, frictionless digital solutions.
Jeff Parker is the CEO of Paymentology, a global payments technology provider operating in 65 countries. His expertise lies in developing configurable payment solutions and fostering strategic partnerships across the fintech ecosystem. Under his leadership, Paymentology has become a key enabler of digital transformation in the payments industry, particularly in emerging markets like Saudi Arabia.
Episode Resources:
- Lezanne Human on LinkedIn
- Bank Zero Website
- Jeff Parker on LinkedIn
- Merusha Naidu on LinkedIn
- Paymentology Website
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