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The financial industry is experiencing a moment of enormous expectation around artificial intelligence. The promises are ambitious and the pressure to adopt is real. But between vision and execution there is still a considerable gap, and it is in that gap that it is decided who truly moves forward.  Expectation vs. Reality  There is no shortage of promises about what AI will do for banking. But the reality on the ground is that most institutions still operate with reactive models. Teams deal with alerts that are difficult to prioritise, the correlation between technical anomalies and business impact still relies largely on manual analysis, and dashboards show what happened, rarely what is about to happen. Transforming scattered data into actionable intelligence, in real time, within a regulated and complex environment like banking, requires more than good intentions. It requires architecture, maturity and time to test before launching.  From Research to Production  That was precisely NEARSOFT’s approach. While expectations were growing, the company chose to invest in depth first. During the second half of 2025, an internal team dedicated itself to rigorously testing AI technologies, understanding what truly worked in real banking environments and what needed more time. The result was presented in the last week of January 2026, the most important step NEARSOFT has taken in this area. The NEARSOFT Agent AI Platform was demonstrated in real time, on banking data, as a fully functional platform. Autonomous agents for anomaly detection, trend analysis, risk, compliance and customer behaviour, operating continuously on NEARSOFT’s modular architecture and natively integrated with 360 Analytics V2. Not isolated alerts, but contextualised intelligence, delivered through multiple notification and analysis channels that the institution already uses. Investing Without Being Locked In  There is a legitimate concern in any AI investment decision: what if today’s technology is obsolete tomorrow? NEARSOFT’s answer is a granular architecture. Each agent is an independent unit, with its own lifecycle, technology and models. Agents built with completely different approaches can coexist without conflict. When something better emerges, one agent can be replaced or evolved without touching the rest. The investment is incremental and reversible. No technology decision is permanent at the individual agent level. The risk of obsolescence ceases to be a blocker and becomes simply part of natural evolution.  The Question That Remains  For those looking to move forward in AI with confidence, the criterion should be twofold: that it works today, and that it does not constrain tomorrow’s choices. It was with this conviction that NEARSOFT presented the Agent AI Platform in the last week of January. Less promise, more engineering. And this is just the beginning, more news in this area will follow soon.

In many markets, USSD-based mobile banking solutions are adopted as a means to advance financial inclusion, enabling access to basic banking services without the need for internet connectivity or smartphones.While these solutions are undeniably simple and cost-effective, their alignment with recognised information security management standards requires careful and objective evaluation, particularly within regulated financial environments. The USSD Authentication Model The typical USSD authentication model relies on two primary elements: a mobile number registered with the telecom operator. a numeric PIN entered by the user. From an ISO/IEC 27001:2022 risk management perspective, this model presents inherent structural limitations that must be explicitly acknowledged and assessed. Key Security Risks in a USSD Context Confidentiality of authentication information: PINs are entered in plain text and may be observed, conflicting with the principle of protecting sensitive information. Reliance on SIM possession: SIM swap and SIM cloning attacks undermine identity assurance and access control mechanisms. Lack of asset binding: the absence of device-level trust weakens logical access controls. Single-factor dependency: compromise of a single factor can result in full account compromise, increasing residual risk. Absence of end-to-end encryption: exposure of data within third-party telecom infrastructures challenges confidentiality and integrity requirements. Transaction Authorisation and Control Effectiveness In SIM swap scenarios, transaction confirmation mechanisms that rely on the same communication channel, such as SMS, USSD-based OTPs or voice calls, do not constitute independent controls.From an ISO/IEC 27001:2022 standpoint, this creates control dependencies that significantly reduce overall effectiveness.For users limited to feature phones, physical hardware tokens remain the only truly independent second factor capable of mitigating this risk. However, they introduce additional operational cost, distribution challenges and lifecycle management complexity, often conflicting with financial inclusion objectives.Experience from large-scale deployments, including M-Pesa, confirms that SIM swap fraud is a material and recurring risk, with measurable financial, operational and consumer protection implications. The NEARSOFT Digital Banking Platform Approach As smartphone adoption increases, including in emerging markets, more robust, auditable and proportionate security control frameworks become feasible.The NEARSOFT Digital Banking Platform is developed and operated by NEARSOFT, an organisation certified under ISO/IEC 27001:2022, supported by a formally implemented and externally audited Information Security Management System (ISMS).Within this framework, the platform is designed with: Device binding as a trusted asset: logical access is restricted to registered and validated devices, strengthening access control and mitigating SIM-based attacks. Layered and risk-based authentication: multiple authentication factors are orchestrated according to transaction risk. Independent authorisation for sensitive operations: critical transactions require controls that are not dependent on SIM ownership. End-to-end encryption: ensuring confidentiality and integrity from the client device through to the banking core. A Risk-Based Path to Sustainable Inclusion Financial inclusion remains a strategic priority. However, under ISO/IEC 27001:2022, inclusion mechanisms must be supported by documented risk assessment, appropriate control selection and continuous improvement.As connectivity improves and smartphone penetration continues to grow, regulators and financial institutions have a clear opportunity to progressively transition from SIM-centric models to device-trusted, cryptographically protected digital channels, without excluding underserved populations.The NEARSOFT Digital Banking Platform demonstrates that: "Financial Inclusion, Information Security and Regulatory Compliance are not mutually exclusive. They are mutually reinforcing."

On World Quality Day, we’re excited to announce that Nearsoft has officially achieved the ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification, issued by Prescient Security, a global recognition of our commitment to information security, trust, and excellence.This milestone reflects the dedication of our team and our unwavering focus on delivering secure, high-quality Digital Banking and eGovernment Solutions.The certification ensures the highest standards of data protection and management across all our key areas:- Software Development- Project Management- Finance- Human Resources- Design- Security/IT- Quality Assurance- Senior ManagementA huge thank you to everyone at Nearsoft who made this achievement possible!