Compliance as a Growth Edge: Why FICA builds trust & deals

• Record fines show non-compliance now destroys balance sheets, not admin hours.
• FICA compliance is a credibility asset - clients fund who they trust.
• Smart tech turns compliance from friction into faster, safer onboarding.

Beyond regulation, the business context

‍FICA has been viewed as a formality “the paperwork before the money flows.” That mindset is outdated and costly. The FSCA levied R943m in fines in 2023/24 vs R100m the year before. The FIC hit institutions with penalties up to R7.8m, while FICA allows for R10m personal to R50m corporate max fines.

Enforcement is no longer symbolic, it’s consequential.

South Africa’s removal from the FATF greylist in October 2025 proved the country can raise standards, but this uplift now means every financial player must keep pace. Alternative funders like Paragon cannot afford reputational drag.

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“FICA isn’t a box tick, it’s risk management,” says Andrew MacPherson, Legal & Compliance Manager at Paragon Finance. “Clients choose funders they trust. Compliance is a signalling mechanism of governance, responsibility and transparency.”

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This is the real story: FICA is no longer cost. It’s proof of legitimacy.

Seamless compliance - driven by tech

‍Paragon has stripped out the operational grind:

• AI-driven non-document ID verification
• Dynamic automated risk scoring
• Continuous sanctions / PEPs monitoring
• Secure digital audit-ready repositories

This turns FICA from a speed bump into a smoother, faster funding experience — without losing vigilance.

The new threat landscape

Deepfake identity, synthetic KYC docs, spoofed credentials — AI-enabled fraud is now industrialised.

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“We’re detecting pixel-level anomalies in digital uploads. Staying compliant is staying cyber-resilient,” says MacPherson.

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This is where compliance becomes growth strategy: the lender who protects capital — attracts capital.

Summation

‍FICA compliance isn’t bureaucracy.

It is balance-sheet protection, deal enablement, and credibility signalling in a high-risk funding environment.

Paragon’s stance is simple: Compliance is a competitive advantage - not paperwork.

The funders that treat it as such will win the trust and the capital in South Africa’s next cycle.

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