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What is BANKSETA?
A significant benefit for every young person today is the acquisition of work-related skills through vocational training. The acquisition of skills broadens their possibilities and strengthens them as individuals. It encourages individuals to develop their networking, time management, and communication skills, in addition to the primary skills that students learn. Skills in training also lead to economic growth and development.
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Add a certificate to your CV with BOTI e-learning: 142 self-paced online courses – Excel, Word, project management, customer service and more – from R595 (excl. VAT) with 6 months’ access.
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BOTI is accredited by the QCTO (Quality Council for Trades and Occupations) as a skills development provider, and is a Level 1 B-BBEE (Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment) contributor. Plan the training in your Workplace Skills Plan and count it towards your B-BBEE skills development score.
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BANKSETA, the Banking Sector Education and Training Authority, is the SETA for the banking and microfinance sector. This guide explains what BANKSETA does, how its levy funding and grants work for employers, and who qualifies for a BANKSETA bursary and how to apply. If you are an employer in the sector planning learnerships or skills programmes for your staff, you can compare BOTI’s accredited qualifications and skills programmes.
Throughout South Africa, millions of young people are trying to learn new skills and develop existing ones. SETAs allow young people who need more training or additional skills to improve their skills by providing them with a forum. In each industrial sector, trade unions, government agencies, employers, and bargaining councils (where applicable) constitute SETAs. There are currently 21 SETAs covering each economic sector, and the private and public sectors are responsible for these SETAs.
The mission of the Banking Sector Education and Training Authority (BANKSETA) is to help, through partnerships, the transformation and growth of people and to encourage stakeholders to advance the national and global role of the wider banking and microfinance industry.
The guiding concepts of BANKSETA are:
- use skills levy funds to the competitive advantage of the banking and microfinance sectors;
- provide the lowest cost of quality-assured, high-quality skills training services;
- deploy current technology;
- conduct the National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS) mandate judiciously;
- maintain status in banking and microfinance as a preferred human resource development partner;
- and surpass the needs of customers.
Its mandate is the following:
- encourage employers in the sector to establish an active working-place learning environment;
- give workers opportunities to learn new skills/progress in their careers;
- increase expenditure levels in education and training in the workplace;
- foster change as driven by the equity goals set in earlier National Skills Development Strategies (cited at the time as 85 percent black, 54 percent female, and 4 percent disabled).
When some other SETAs underwent radical changes in March 2011, the South African BANKSETA did not change its position. Instead, BANKSETA has continued to operate just as it was founded in 1998 and launched in March 2000.
The scope of education and training coverage in the banking sector was approved by the Government in 2000 and still includes:
- Central banking activities
- Commercial banking, discount housing, and all other types of banking operations
- Building societies (although in the original form known in South Africa, these do not exist)
- Financial mediation operation
- Activities ancillary to financial mediation activities
- Financing for leases (which all the banks now handle)
- Securities dealings
Thousands of high school and college graduates set out to look for work every year, but many soon find that their quest is fruitless and does not deliver anything important. The available ratio of jobs to job seekers is significantly poor, demonstrating the SETA program’s significant importance. Some of the major beneficiaries of SETAs are individuals who want to run thriving small-scale enterprises, people with disabilities, and those who need to improve their current skills.
Functions of BANKSETA
BANKSETA was expected to establish a sectoral skills plan within its clear terms of reference, which would operate within the context of the national skills development policy laid down at that time for this particular SETA.
Within the criteria set by the Government, which were to enforce the skills sector plans and encourage learning, BANKSETA succeeded in implementing the skills sector plan by:
- approving the plans for workshop skills
- setting up learnerships
- allocation of discretionary grants that employers can receive
- assistance with education and training for providers and workers
- monitoring this education and training
- identification of workplaces that could be used for practical experience in the workplace
- supporting the production of materials for learning
- improving learning facilitation and learning experience
- helping to set up and register successful learnership agreements
Several other very relevant roles in the banking sector related to the disbursal of skills development levies and the SAQA Act have been difficult to enforce for many other sectors technically. This industry was also responsible for liaising with both the national skills growth strategy and policy and its business skills plan with the National Skills Authority and other SETA bodies, which it has done very effectively.
BANKSETA also had to report to the Director-General on the execution of its sectoral skills plan and its revenue and expenditure and to liaise with the Department of Employment and Labour’s employment services to enhance the standard of knowledge available under South African education legislation. For new learners, this is extremely necessary. This lets learners understand where to find the right providers of education and training, some of whom provide a brief course and others who provide online courses and even college courses and find practical and sustainable job opportunities.
BANKSETA has also had to designate, as a responsible and well-established sector, the appropriate office bearers and staff expected to fulfill all these duties and functions. Plus, to help SETA achieve its objectives, they had to encourage the involvement of the right government departments.
The banking sector is carefully supervised by legislation. To achieve their goals in the long term, BANKSETA must train all learners not only in terms of legislation but also on the necessary knowledge.
However, while the Government considered BANKSETA to be more concerned with the relevant law, this SETA was more concerned with the “purposes of the Act. In effect, this is what will ensure that it is easier for learners and newly eligible students to enter the job market to get work. To this end, the Government categorically notes that the goal of BANKSETA must be:
- developing the skills of all South Africans to join the workforce
- increasing investment levels in both education and training in the banking sector
- Promote employers to take on new workers
- build an atmosphere in the workplace that will include an engaging learning environment
- present staffs the opportunity to learn new skills
- providing new individuals with opportunities to get job experience
- hire individuals who find it hard to find jobs
- encourage staff to gain further training and certificates
- increasing the opportunities of historically disadvantaged individuals
- focusing on the standard of workplace education and training and ensuring that it is acceptable
- helping young people to find employment
- encourage retired employees to re-enter the workplace
- providing and regulating job programs
BANKSETA Accreditation
Under the legacy (pre-2009) system, BANKSETA’s ETQA accredited training providers. Today, providers of occupational qualifications, part-qualifications and skills programmes apply directly to the QCTO, and SETAs work with the QCTO as Quality Partners. Under the legacy system, BANKSETA’s accreditation work included:
- the development of appropriate standards for provider accreditation
- accreditation of only constituent suppliers who share the main focus of BANKSETA
- administration of accreditation for the unit requirements and qualifications referred to in the NQF, which are the key objective of BANKSETA
- handling both institutional accreditation and registration of the program for constituent providers
- conducting full approval and registration of the program for non-constituent providers
- accrediting sites of results and evaluation
Accreditation providers are of two categories, namely Constituent Providers and Non-constituent Providers. Constituent providers are providers of single-purpose training who tend to work within the main objective of BANKSETA.
Non-constituent providers, on the other hand, are training providers who are certified with a separate ETQA and would like to integrate training into the BANKSETA-scope learning programs.
For three years, applicants who follow all the requirements laid down will receive complete accreditation. Accreditation will be related to the services that the provider will provide (qualifications and unit standards). Applicants meeting the minimum requirements set will, on the other hand, receive complete accreditation for one year. Accreditation will be related to the services that the provider will provide (qualifications and unit standards). Monitoring and evaluation will occur during this time, and the accreditation will be extended for three years if it is compliant. Should additional qualifications and unit requirements need to be made by a constituent of a non-constituent provider, a request for an expansion of their reach should be completed.
Six months before the expiry of accreditation, the provider is obligated to apply for re-accreditation. Re-accreditation will rely on the outcomes of monitoring reports from the provider. Accreditation will not be received by applicants who do not adhere to the defined minimum requirements. Within the agreed period, the provider and the ETQA will agree on the outstanding conditions to be achieved. The provider will be re-assessed at the end of the time frame. The ETQA would provide development support to a fully qualified constituent provider, where such support could include selected interviews, minimal monitoring, and workshops. Although retaining the provider’s obligation to coordinate its processes and policies, the ETQA will provide guidance and advice. The ETQA will conduct a maximum of two verifications and two desktop assessment visits to assist the provider after the provider has completed the self-evaluation. The provider may opt to call a professional for assistance at his own expense if the application fails to succeed.
BANKSETA Funding
One of the Skills Development Act aims to stimulate the development of previously disadvantaged people’s skills to encourage South Africa’s economy’s growth and development. This mandate is accomplished by efficiently disbursing skills development funds in compliance with the SETA Grant regulations. BANKSETA raises funds within its sub-sectors from levy-paying employers. It disburses these funds as follows:
- For discretionary grants, 49.5%[1] is set aside.
- The NSF is allocated 20%[1].
- 20%[1] is reserved for mandatory grants.
- 10%[1] is for administrative purposes of BANKSETA.
- 0.5 percent[1] is assigned to the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations.
Discretionary grants are necessary to contribute to skill development and training programs. The provision of professional, vocational, technical, and academic learning programs or other learning programs including the following shall constitute the major part of discretionary funding:
- Skills programs
- Internships
- Learnerships
- Work Integrated Learning
- Bursaries
According to the National Qualifications System, these training initiatives are required to result in qualifications or part-time qualifications, as provided for in the Grant Regulations. During a period during which it accepts applications from employees, BANKSETA makes these funds available. The opening of this time will be made public on the BANKSETA website and national radio and newspaper stations.
BANKSETA also disburses grants to non-PIVOTAL initiatives for discretionary funding. Such initiatives do not relate to any accepted standardized requirements but are also intended to establish sub-sectors. This involves research projects that BANKSETA and related organizations will undertake.
A portion of discretionary funding (often cited as ten percent) is used for particular programs that address college capacity training and public service training for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
Based on BANKSETA’s discretion, discretionary grants can also be distributed. This depends on the accessibility and availability of allocated funds, the BANKSETA Accounting Authority (Board of Directors) ‘approval, and the fulfillment of specified criteria: the BANKSETA Discretionary Grants Policy and Guidelines.
If the organization meets the conditions for obtaining the grants and employers have paid their levies, the SETA pays mandatory grants every fourth quarter. The levy-paying employer has to satisfy the following conditions to be eligible to receive the mandatory grant:
- Be a regular payer who, according to the Skills Development Levies Act, is registered. The skills development levy was established to promote learning and development in South Africa. The salary bill of employers specifies the levy for skill growth. One percent of the salary bill[2] is the tax. However, employers whose leviable amount over the next 12 months will not exceed R500 000[2] do not have to pay the tax.
- be registered under the Skills Development Levies Act
- recruit a facilitator in skills development
- both levy payments must be up to date during the time of approval and reporting
- the Work Skills Plan for the previous reporting year must be submitted and carried out according to the BANKSETA implementation outlines
- Annual Training Report and the Workplace Skills Plan must be submitted by 30 April each year[1].
- Employers with a recognition arrangement with a specific trade union must provide clear evidence that the Work Skills Plan and the Annual Training Report were sent to the trade unions concerned for consultation. This union has signed them off.
How to get a SETA learnership
One of the SETA opportunities is an orderly learning process to gain academic knowledge and practical workplace skills. These well-organized processes of learning are time-based, not outcome-based, and understand the need for structured learning. The learning period varies, but it lasts an average of 18 months. The trainee has to complete at least four separate learning courses to get an artisan equivalent certification. This implies that the first four NQF level qualifications have to be completed.
- Before beginning a SETA learning course, learners should meet certain requirements, and these include:
- New entrants or existing staff may be apprentices.
- Learners must meet the entry requirements for the particular learning they choose to participate in.
- Learners must satisfy the criteria for the selection structured by the company taking on the learner.
There are also unique protocols that require other students, employers, and training providers to follow, including the following:
- Employers are endorsed in their workplace and are required to meet the criteria for pre-registration.
- Training providers must be accredited to offer the learning programme: by the QCTO for occupational qualifications, or by the SETA for a legacy qualification still in its teach-out period.
- There are qualified assessors available. They could be consultants, assessors, or in-house assessors.
- In the media, companies advertise learning opportunities.
- Learners apply and are chosen by the company’s process of recruitment.
- The learner, the employer, and the provider have signed a three-party learnership agreement.
- Between the learner and the employer, a short-term work contract is signed where the learner is unemployed.
- The learning program and process with the training provider is reviewed and consented to.
- Employers fund the learnership by grants obtained from SETA.
- Employers and providers of training provide the learning and knowledge needed to achieve the training process.
- Via mentoring and feedback, learners are given support.
- Learners are evaluated by trained assessors through formative and summative evaluations.
- The quality assuror of the BANKSETA is invited to head the assessment. The provider must perform external monitoring.
- After the learnership is completed successfully, the learner is awarded the qualification; on a new occupational qualification this is a QCTO Occupational Certificate, issued after the external integrated summative assessment (EISA).
- If learning is not finished, learners receive a statement of their results for unit standards achieved.
As soon as the learnership process is finished, whether he/she was unemployed, the employer can either sign the learner for a new learning process, engage the learner, or let go of the learner for potential hiring by another company.
A learnership should include the following components under the Skills Development Act:
- A structured portion of learning.
- A practical job experience.
- It must be profession-related.
- It must lead to qualification after finishing successfully.
BANKSETA Qualifications
The qualifications for BANKSETA are managed by the Skills Development Act, the National Qualifications Framework (NQF), and Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO). The QCTO quality-assures occupational qualifications and oversees the development of new ones. The QCTO also replaces professional qualifications that were awarded by SETAs with occupational qualifications to training providers. It is also the Council’s responsibility to de-register certificates with no intake of learners for some time.
There is a revised quality assurance framework for the BANKSETA where the QCTO oversees all quality assurance functions while the Development Quality Partner (DQP) and Assessment Quality Partner (AQP) keep an eye on the development and restructuring of professional qualifications and also register assessors and moderators, respectively. From time to time, BANKSETA qualifications are established and restructured following step by step procedures. BANKSETA member organizations and other stakeholders send an application to BANKSETA to establish a new qualification or consolidation of existing qualifications. The BANKSETA submits this to the QCTO. After these steps, the bodies sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), and BANKSETA appoints the QDP. The BANKSETA manages the restructuring of qualifications sends to the QCTO for approval.
The BANKSETA qualifications listed below are legacy (pre-2009) qualifications. Their registration ended on 30 June 2023[3] and any extension was granted qualification by qualification[4], so check each one’s SAQA record for its last dates for enrolment and achievement before enrolling.
| SAQA ID | Qualification Title | NQF Level |
| 20183 | National Banking Certificate Level 2 | 02[5] |
| 20184 | National Banking Certificate Level 3 | 03[6] |
| 20185 | National Banking Certificate Level 4: Retail Foreign Exchange | 04[7] |
| 20185 | National Banking Certificate Level 4: Asset Based Finance | 04[7] |
| 20186 | National Certificate: Banking | 05[8] |
| 23433 | National Certificate: Micro Finance | 04[9] |
| 23433 | Further Education and Training Certificate: Micro Finance | |
| 23453 | National Certificate: Micro Finance | 03[10] |
| 50481 | National Certificate: Financial Markets and Instruments | 06[11] |
BANKSETA Bursary
The BANKSETA Bursary assists candidates in getting a good education and work opportunities. A candidate who wants to change their future and have a passion for learning should apply for an BANKSETA bursary.
BANKSETA covers the financing of bursaries by university collaboration arrangements. The service is comprehensive and holistic (covering tuition, textbooks, and accommodation, on or off-campus, depending on what has been arranged by the University).
Every year, BANKSETA announces a funding window for all public universities to apply for funding for unemployed students that study courses that are scarce and vital banking industry skills, such as:
- Bachelor of Science (IT)
- Bachelor of Commerce (Economics, Finance, Financial Markets or Financial Modelling streams)
- Actuarial Science (Accounting)
- Bachelor of Commerce (IT)
- Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting)
Please note that BANKSETA does not directly recruit students to be part of the scholarship holders receiving a BANKSETA scholarship. According to the minimum criteria also laid down by BANKSETA, each University has its criteria for selecting learners to be part of the bursary.
The BANKSETA scholarship covers the full cost of the scholarship, including tuition fees, meal allowances, book fees, accommodation costs, and other costs, such as tutorial costs.
Eligibility Requirements
Before applying, applicants must meet the following minimum entry criteria (please note that failure to fulfill all the requirements would result in your application not being considered):
- Citizen of South Africa
- Matric or equivalent completed
- Currently studying OR admitted to study at a recognized tertiary institution in South Africa (University or TVET College)
- Currently studying OR accepted in the banking and microfinance sector
- Students from historically marginalized groups (young people, black people, women) and students with disabilities would be given priority.
How to apply for the bursary
Download and complete the Application Form for the BANKSETA Bursary (.pdf)
Send valid copies of the following supporting documentation along with your completed application form (submission of these documents is mandatory; your request will be disregarded if any things are missing):
- ID document (certified copy)
- Certified copy of matric certificate or equivalent for a 1st-year student.
- Certified copy of previous academic record/ results for a 2nd or 3rd-year student.
- Evidence of application / provisional acceptance offer from university/ TVET College for a 1st-time applicant. If this is not yet available, it must be submitted as soon as it is received)
- Proof of domestic annual income
Completed application forms, along with supporting documents, can be submitting by sending an email to [email protected]. Enter the words “BANKSETA Bursary Application – Your Full Name” in the email subject.
Frequently asked questions
What is BANKSETA?
BANKSETA is the Banking Sector Education and Training Authority, one of South Africa’s 21 SETAs. It covers the banking and microfinance sector, from central and commercial banking to financial mediation and securities dealing. It uses skills levy funds from employers in the sector to support learnerships, bursaries, skills programmes and other workplace learning, and it takes new or restructured qualifications for the sector to the QCTO for approval.
Who qualifies for a BANKSETA bursary?
Applicants must be South African citizens with matric or an equivalent, and must be studying, or admitted to study, at a recognised tertiary institution in South Africa in a field linked to the banking and microfinance sector, such as IT, economics, finance, actuarial science or accounting. Priority goes to students from historically marginalised groups, including young people, black people and women, and to students with disabilities.
How do I apply online for a BANKSETA bursary for 2027?
BANKSETA does not recruit bursary holders directly. Each year it opens a funding window for public universities, and each university selects students against BANKSETA’s minimum criteria, so ask your university whether it holds BANKSETA funding. Where a direct application form is offered, send it with certified copies of your ID, academic results, proof of admission and proof of household income. Windows and closing dates change every year, so confirm them on BANKSETA’s own website first.
What does the BANKSETA bursary cover?
BANKSETA funds bursaries through arrangements with universities, and the cover is meant to be comprehensive: tuition fees, textbooks or book fees, accommodation on or off campus, meal allowances and other costs such as tutorials. Exactly what is included for a particular student depends on what BANKSETA has arranged with that university, so check the terms of your bursary agreement before you budget.
What BANKSETA funding is available to employers?
Levy-paying employers in the sector can claim a mandatory grant of 20%[1] of the skills development levy they paid, provided they are registered, up to date with levy payments and submit their Workplace Skills Plan and Annual Training Report by 30 April[1]. BANKSETA also awards discretionary grants for programmes such as learnerships, internships, skills programmes, work-integrated learning and bursaries, subject to available funds and its discretionary grants policy.
BANKSETA’s mandatory grant conditions include appointing a skills development facilitator, who prepares the Workplace Skills Plan and Annual Training Report due by 30 April[1]. BOTI’s Skills Development Facilitator (SDF) Training Course runs in-house at your premises, at our venue in Sunningdale, Johannesburg, or online. Call 011 882 8853 or email [email protected].
Sources
- Mandatory Grants – Health and Welfare SETA (HWSETA), 2026.
- Skills Development Levy – South African Revenue Service (SARS), 2026.
- Directive on the implementation of transitional arrangements for pre-2009 qualifications (Government Gazette 54858) – Minister of Higher Education and Training, 17 June 2026.
- Pre-2009 Extended Qualifications – South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), June 2026.
- SAQA qualification record 20183 – SAQA, 2026.
- SAQA qualification record 20184 – SAQA, 2026.
- SAQA qualification record 20185 – SAQA, 2026.
- SAQA qualification record 20186 – SAQA, 2026.
- SAQA qualification record 23433 – SAQA, 2026.
- SAQA qualification record 23453 – SAQA, 2026.
- SAQA qualification record 50481 – SAQA, 2026.
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