Growing up in Empangeni, Sashin Sookroo planned to become an engineer. A last-minute high school pivot into commerce sent him to FNB’s graduate program instead, and eventually to the helm of FNB Connect. Today, he sits at the exact intersection of banking and telecommunications, proving that a mobile device is much more than a way to check a bank balance or receive an OTP. In this edition of Coffee With…, PHATHISANI MOYO sits down with FNB Connect CEO Sashin Sookroo to discuss how FNB turned a bank app into a digital platform driving R28.6 billion ($1.8 billion USD) in customer value, why digital inclusion is just as vital as financial inclusion, and how a phone in your pocket becomes a launchpad for work, education, and entrepreneurship.
As a boy growing up in Empangeni, a small town in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal Province, Sashin Sookroo had already decided that he wanted to be an engineer.
It was a fairly straightforward ambition for someone who had always been drawn to technology. But somewhere between school and university, Sookroo found himself becoming fascinated by something else: commerce.
The engineering plan never quite made it to the finish line. A last-minute decision in matric, the final year of high school in South Africa, sent him towards commerce instead, and eventually into FNB’s graduate programme after he was headhunted at university.
Originally published by TechCabal.