Mac: built to support a transforming financial services sector

Apple Mac devices and the broader Apple ecosystem are uniquely capable of enabling the financial services sector to transform, innovate faster, offer greater value, and support ever-increasing customer demands.

This is according to Sudesh Pillay, Executive Head of iStore Business, who says Mac devices meet the key requirements for devices in use by modern financial services organisations, thanks to their outstanding performance, durability, enhanced security, extended battery life, easy deployment and management, and high residual value.

“Apple devices help address key concerns in financial services in particular, and across the broader IT ecosystem,” Pillay says. “The recent ITWeb CIO Survey 2023 found that the top three CIO concerns were cybersecurity, digital transformation, and the skills shortage and talent management. With Mac devices, they can improve endpoint security, support transformation, and manage the environment with fewer skills.”

Employee choice

Pillay notes that employee experience has become a priority in high-performing organisations seeking to attract and retain the best talent. With technology a key factor in influencing employee experience, employee choice in devices has come to the fore.

“Employee choice programmes offer employees a choice from a catalogue of devices. What we see is when organisations implement a choice programme, they retain talent better. We also note that given the choice, most employees choose Mac,” he says. Thousands of Macs are now in use within leading South African banks, with one case study revealing 90% user satisfaction and a 20% improvement in employee retention as a result.

IBM, with over 290,000 Apple devices deployed to its staff, found that within its ranks, macOS users were happier with their devices, performed better than average, and that macOS users and devices required only 7 engineers to support 200,000 macOS devices vs. 20 engineers to support 200,000 Windows devices. This meant it cost IBM 186% more to support Windows than it did Macs.

Secure, productive hybrid workforces

Apple, trusted for prioritising security and privacy in its products, has built robust security features into Mac hardware and software, making Mac ideal for environments where compliance and security are key. 

“We saw strong adoption of Mac during the Covid pandemic, when banks had to send staff home, with a massive push to the cloud. Users needed to access documents on the fly and work from anywhere – securely. Financial services had to overcome challenges such as enabling VPNs, strengthening security, and contending with loadshedding. Mac, which is at least 50% more secure than other devices, and offers 18 – 21 hours’ battery life on a single charge, met key requirements,” Pillay says. For busy executives, this extended battery life also means the ability to keep working throughout lengthy international flights.

Mac is faster and more powerful than other PCs, so productivity improves, and the fact that MacOS supports the Windows applications many financial services sector employees use has further boosted adoption post-Covid.

Value across the board

Despite their aspirational value and premium design, Mac is not just for the top tier staff members, Pillay says. “Mac is more affordable than many people think. In addition, they offer lower TCO and higher residual value than most PCs. A Mac is a well-built good-looking machine, but there’s a lot more under the hood from a business perspective. Where banks generally write off machines after 36 to 60 months, Mac lasts longer and you don’t need to replace parts like the battery or keyboard over their lifespan. Mac also needs fewer support resources – one support person can support 500 users on Mac.”

For users with multiple Apple devices, the ‘handoff’ between devices is an impressive productivity enabler, he notes. “For example, you can copy text from your iPhone and paste it onto a Word document on your Mac, or your Apple Watch can sign you into your Mac.”

For CFOs, Mac offers a compelling value proposition. Forrester’s report The Total Economic Impact Of Mac In Enterprise: M1 Update found cost savings and business benefits of Apple M1-chip Mac reduced costs of IT support and deployment, and an ROI of 336%. The faster start-up time on Mac alone resulted in a 5% increase in employee productivity.

Enabling fintech innovation

One of Apple’s fastest-growing verticals is fintech DevOps, thanks to the processing power of Apple’s chipset, Pillay says. “All DevOps companies and development teams in large banks are moving to Mac for the processing power, which was previously only possible in a PC tower. It offers mobility for resource-intensive work, slashes the time to develop and debug, and users still have the ability to plug in all their peripherals and work within a secure, compliant environment,” he says.

Going greener

Addressing ESG priorities, Mac and iPad are durable, lightweight and built with the highest quality materials. They deliver a high residual value and can be traded in – so contributing to a circular economy. Apple products are increasingly environmentally friendly. Apple is working to become product carbon-neutral by 2030, manufacturing Mac with 100% recyclable or renewable materials and ensuring that every link in the supply chain upgrades to 100% renewable energy.

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