Absa modernizes credit risk operations with SAS Viya on AWS to boost efficiency
Absa Bank has modernized its credit risk management operations by deploying the SAS Viya artificial intelligent Platform on Amazon Web Services (AWS), a move that has significantly accelerated risks reporting, strengthened model governance and improved regulatory compliance across its retail banking business.
The new platform has reduced credit risk reporting cycles between 80% and 90%, shrinking processes that previously took weeks to complete into tasks that can now be finalized within hours. The bank also said it can deploy new credit risk models which are 50% faster, enabling faster responses to the changing market conditions and regulatory requirements.
This modernization has replaced a legacy environment that relied on manual scripts and fragmented workflows to manage more than 500 credit risk models supporting the bank’s retail portfolios. According to Absa, the new system automates model monitoring, standardizes reporting real-time insights for both businesses team and regulators.
The cloud-based deployment will allow computing resources to scale based on demand, reducing infrastructure costs by eliminating unused server capacity. SAS Viya also includes AI powered insights that recommend opportunities to improve model performance and governance.
To support this transition, Absa established a dedicated Center of Excellence and has worked with SAS to redesign its model monitoring framework. The bank SAS that analysts who previously spent weeks producing reports can now focus on strategic analysis, model development and innovation rather than manual administrative work.
The platform delivers automated execution, standardized dashboards and consistent reporting across all credit risk models while reducing the likelihood of human error. Credit risk management remains a critical function for financial institutions as they balance lending growth with regulatory obligations and risk exposure. Faster model deployment and continuous monitoring can improvement loss forecasting, capital planning and overall decision making.
Absa’s latest investment reflects a broader trend among financial institutions adopting AI and cloud technologies to modernize risk management, enhance operational efficiency and strengthen resilience in an increasingly regulated banking environment.
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