We’ve unveiled a world-first real-time AI system to eliminate client support friction.
Capitec has announced Pulse, an innovative AI capability that fundamentally changes how clients experience support through its contact centre. For the first time, clients are assisted by contact centre agents who already know what issues to address at every interaction. This eliminates the frustration clients can feel when needing to explain an issue from scratch at exactly the moment when clarity and speed matter most.
Pulse is an AI-enabled tool, triggered when a client contacts the Client Care Centre through the Capitec app. Its power lies in the contextual information it gives about a client’s situation in real time as they make contact through the app. Drawing on signals across Capitec’s systems, Pulse gives agents an immediate, accurate picture before a single question is asked. The result is a faster, calmer, and more human experience precisely when clients need help.
“Pulse is a world first because for the first time, real-time support begins with understanding rather than interrogation,” says Andrew Baker, Chief Information Officer at Capitec. “Faster resolution is part of it, but what we are really solving for is delivering an effortless experience for our clients when they are feeling the most frustrated.”
When something goes wrong, the last thing clients need is to have to repeat themselves. Yet traditional support calls often begin with a series of questions: Who are you? What happened? When did it start? Those first few minutes can feel slow and frustrating, especially when a transaction has been declined, a service is disrupted, or an account query is urgent. Pulse removes that friction by ensuring agents already understand the client’s situation before the conversation begins.
Rather than needing to stitch information together during a call, Pulse brings it together so that agents already have the context when the in-app call begins. In practice, that means an agent has information ready about what the client has experienced (whether a declined transaction, service disruption, or a query around account limits) and how best to help them. This way, clients spend less time explaining and more time getting the support they need.
Testing data over three months shows the tool’s impact on client support efficiency. Without Pulse, agents in the testing group took approximately 7% more time to resolve issues compared to the all-agent average for our Client Care Centre. Once this group started using Pulse, they reduced their call handling times by up to 18%, a net performance improvement of 26%. This means faster resolution, fewer repeated explanations, and a support experience that reflects the quality clients expect.
“These results show that when you remove friction at the start of an interaction, everything changes. Clients feel heard from the outset, and agents can focus on what they are there to do: solve the problem,” says Baker.
Capitec’s innovative Pulse tool was built with a clear principle: that more precise intelligence about a client's situation should translate directly into a better experience for that client. Every design decision reflects that commitment.
Pulse activates only when a client places a support call through the Capitec app, and only during that interaction. It analyses limited data necessary to diagnose and help resolve a specific issue. The tool is event-triggered, time-limited, and used exclusively during active support interactions to resolve problems safely while protecting clients.
“The result is an innovative tool that ensures that when a client needs help, Capitec is prepared and already in a position to provide it,” says Baker.
Pulse is an AI-assisted capability that reconstructs what has just happened to a client at the moment they contact support. Rather than waiting for a client to explain their issue, Pulse establishes situational understanding before the conversation begins so agents can help faster, more calmly, and more effectively.
Capitec consistently develops tools and technologies aimed at removing friction for its clients. Traditional support systems rely on clients explaining their problem, agents asking multiple questions, and analysis that happens after the fact. Pulse reverses that model. It means that when something goes wrong (for example, a failed transaction, a service disruption, a security concern), the person helping you already understands the situation. The result is a faster, calmer, and more human experience at exactly the moment the client needs it most.
Yes. While many organisations use AI to analyse conversations after they happen or to automate responses, Pulse delivers real-time situational understanding as the call lands with the Client Care Centre agent. No comparable system currently does this.
Pulse processes limited personal and device-related data, including diagnostics, security integrity signals, and risk indicators. It draws on recent signals from Capitec’s apps, products, payment systems, and risk controls, as well as the Error Logging Service that captures technical and contextual information when an issue occurs.
No. When you use Capitec’s products and services, how your data may be used is set out in our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions, which are available at https://www.capitecbank.co.za/privacy-centre/privacy-notice/. Pulse operates within those existing agreements.
Pulse only activates when you contact support. It uses limited data about your recent experience specifically to help resolve your issue. It does not collect new data about you, and it does not operate outside of that support interaction.
No. Pulse is not a monitoring or surveillance system. It is event-triggered, meaning it only activates when a client contacts support. It is time-bound, meaning it operates only during that active interaction. It is not used for behavioural profiling and does not run continuously in the background.
Capitec’s internal software developers developed Pulse from the ground up. It required a brand-new database architecture and used Amazon Connect and Amazon Web Services infrastructure and services to deliver the services.
