Franc released its Wealth Index and, according to CEO Dr Thomas Brennan, the measure showed women in South Africa built wealth more effectively than men, based on a composite assessment of behaviour, demographic features and financial anxiety, Moneyweb SA reported.
WHAT THE WEALTH INDEX MEASURED
The Wealth Index was presented as a measure of financial wellbeing that moved beyond asset balances to include behavioural and psychological indicators, the report said. Dr Thomas Brennan, identified as CEO and co-founder of Franc, explained that the index combined observable behaviours, demographic characteristics and levels of financial anxiety to produce a profile of how well people were managing and building wealth.
Moneyweb SA noted that the index placed particular emphasis on behaviour and financial anxiety, rather than treating wealth solely as a stock of assets. That approach framed financial wellbeing as an outcome influenced by decision making, risk perceptions and life circumstances, a perspective that differed from traditional measures used by banks and statistical agencies.
The methodology, as described in the coverage, aimed to capture how people acted around money and how those actions, in interaction with their demographic background and their financial stress, translated into better or worse financial outcomes. The index therefore sought to offer a more nuanced signal for firms and policymakers than raw income or net worth figures could provide.
MARKET AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS
The findings had implications for banks, fintechs, and regulators operating in South Africa and across the continent. If behavioural patterns and lower financial anxiety were correlated with stronger wealth building, as the index suggested, financial institutions might reconsider how they assess creditworthiness, design savings products and target financial education programmes.
Financial services firms traditionally relied on income, credit history and asset ownership to underwrite lending and develop products. The Wealth Index indicated that firms could derive value from integrating behavioural indicators and measures of financial stress into their models, potentially improving customer segmentation and product fit. For digital lenders and fintech platforms, the index reinforced the business case for using alternative signals beyond traditional credit bureau data.
For regulators and policy makers, the index offered a different lens on financial inclusion and consumer protection. Measures based on behaviour and financial anxiety could inform interventions designed to reduce vulnerability and support long-term saving, rather than focusing only on expanding account ownership or credit penetration.
The gender aspect of the report carried particular weight. The index findings, as reported, suggested that women in South Africa exhibited behaviours and lower financial anxiety that correlated with stronger wealth building. That pattern challenged commonly held assumptions that men necessarily accumulated more wealth or made better financial decisions, and it highlighted the need for gender-sensitive analysis in both product development and policy design.
Industry observers and institutional investors following consumer finance trends in Africa had increasingly focused on behavioural drivers of financial health, as mobile payments and digital finance broadened the data available to firms. The Wealth Index appeared to add to that discourse by offering a composite metric that combined psychological and demographic signals with observable behaviour.
Franc's work on the index also underscored the growing role of fintechs in producing information that could influence mainstream banking practices and regulatory priorities. By producing alternative measures of wellbeing, fintech companies could push incumbents to rethink risk assessment and customer engagement strategies, while giving regulators new tools to assess population-level financial resilience.
Sources: Moneyweb SA