Why Intelligent Use of Trusted Data Will Define South African Business in 2026

South African businesses have always made decisions in the face of uncertainty. Changing interest rates, persistent fraud risk, and slow economic growth have forced organisations to make harder calls about whom they hire, trust, and extend credit to. What is changing now is not the presence of data, but the speed and intelligence with which trusted data can be used, increasingly driven by AI-enabled decision systems. This year, competitive advantage will belong to organisations that can decide faster without sacrificing trust.

Managing Volatility

Looking back at 2025, one theme stands out. Organisations that invested in trusted data foundations were better positioned to navigate volatility. In credit markets, more favourable lending conditions reopened growth opportunities. At the same time, small blind spots in affordability assessment and fraud detection continued to expose portfolios to stress. Through Xpert Decision Systems (XDS), we see how quickly risk profiles change when early warning signals are missed. The next phase of progress is not only seeing risk. It is recognising it sooner and acting on it faster.

In 2026, lenders will face growing pressure to approve credit quickly while remaining compliant with affordability regulations and consumer protection standards. This is driving wider adoption of behavioural analytics, alternative data, and continuous affordability monitoring rather than once-off assessments. Institutions that cannot modernise their decision pipelines will struggle to compete on speed without increasing exposure to credit and fraud risk.

The human touch

The same evolution is taking place in the workforce. Managed Integrity Evaluation (MIE) screening insights continue to reveal persistent risks around misrepresented qualifications and undisclosed criminal records. Large-scale screening data shows how often material issues surface only when multiple data points are reviewed together. As recruitment becomes more digital and geographically dispersed, employers are placing greater reliance on accurate, compliant, and delivered verification at pace. The future of hiring depends on trusted information that keeps up with modern recruitment realities.

The workforce is also becoming increasingly borderless. South African companies are recruiting talent across regions, while local candidates apply for roles beyond national borders. This expands opportunity, but also raises the importance of internationally verifiable qualifications, identity assurance, and consistent integrity checks. This year, background screening will form part of ongoing workforce risk management in a mobile, digital employment landscape.

Analytical underpinning

A further shift is underway within Mettus itself. When trusted data across credit, identity, qualifications, and integrity is connected through modern analytics, automation, and AI-driven decision engines, product innovation accelerates. New solutions can be developed, tested, and refined faster because the data foundations already exist. This allows organisations to respond to emerging risks and opportunities without having to rebuild decision frameworks from scratch.

Decision intelligence is also moving closer to the point of action. Credit, identity, and integrity checks are increasingly embedded directly into banking apps, onboarding journeys, and HR systems. Over the coming months, businesses will expect modular, real-time, explainable services rather than static reports. The ability to deliver trusted data precisely where decisions happen will separate data providers from true decision partners.

What will happen in 2026

Four developments will shape how South African businesses use data this year.

Integration across previously siloed datasets will become essential. Real-time decisioning will move from aspiration to expectation. Trusted data, intelligently activated, will become a differentiator in a constrained economy where confidence and risk management matter more than ever. Finally, explainability will become non-negotiable. As AI models influence credit and hiring outcomes, regulators, businesses, and consumers will demand transparency into how decisions are reached. Trusted data without explainable decision logic will fail both compliance and reputational tests.

At Mettus, our role is to help organisations move from fragmented insight to connected intelligence, from delayed decisions to confident action. In a world that is not getting simpler, those who can turn trusted data into intelligent decisions at speed will be best placed to grow, compete, and build lasting trust.

That focus has shaped how we have built the business since our founding in 2022. As a collective, we bring together credit information, background screening, and technology capabilities so organisations can make critical decisions based on evidence rather than instinct. Our ambition has never been to simply hold data. It is to modernise how trusted data is activated and used to make real business decisions.

And it is in that shift towards more intelligent action where we believe the next era of South African business advantage will be built.