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Secure Satellite Bank Connectivity: A Case Study in Digital Banking

A prominent South African bank needed reliable, secure connectivity for its communications network to strengthen its services and reach more customers in underserved communities. This case study examines how Eutelsat partnered with Q-KON and plugged its low Earth orbit services into the Twoobii platform for the right solution. The outcome: a new, enterprise-grade satellite service for banking operations that promotes greater financial inclusion, business and independence for banks, for customers, and their communities.

The Challenge: Delivering Secure Banking Services to Underserved Communities

The Challenge: Delivering Secure Banking Services to Underserved Communities

Reliable connectivity can determine whether communities participate in the digital economy or not. Where local network infrastructure is limited or vulnerable to disruption, customers will struggle to access key financial services such as mobile wallets, digital payment platforms and online banking tools that have become so integral to modern, everyday life. For banks, the challenge extends beyond operational reach to include regulatory compliance, trust, and reputation. Compliance requires digital companies to follow laws, rules, and guidelines that protect consumers, maintain market integrity, and prevent financial crime.  

The Need: Resilient Satcom Connectivity for Banking Operations

Q-KON and its client bank required a secure, enterprise-grade satcom solution that would guarantee continuity for key banking processes— for both internal operations and customer-facing services. Critical needs included:

  • Backup connectivity with automatic failover capability for added resilience to existing networks
  • Primary links for service where no fibre infrastructure existed
  • Both fixed and deployable Comms-on-the-Pause for pop-up banking and temporary branch operations

Meeting these requirements was essential to strengthening and building the bank's business and reputation, protecting customer data, supporting disaster recovery planning, and ensuring digital banking services remained accessible and available even during terrestrial outages.

The Solution: LEO Satellite Connectivity for Secure Banking Operations

Eutelsat and Q-KON deployed a OneWeb/Twoobii LEO satellite solution that delivered enterprise-grade connectivity with built-in quality of service guarantees:

  • OneWeb/Twoobii installation backed by network performance SLAs, scalable service plans and SD-WAN integration capability
  • Real-time transparency tools for network performance monitoring, billing oversight and data usage tracking
  • Robust OW50L (single parabolic) hardware matched to branch and ATM requirements, supporting 100/20 Mbps and 50/10 Mbps service tiers

The bank now benefits from enterprise satellite connectivity that supports both internal operations and customer-facing services with guaranteed performance and transparency.

The Impact: Accelerating Banking Digitalisation Across Branches

The deployment has unlocked new growth opportunities across South Africa and the wider African continent, including containerised 5G for temporary office spaces, Comms-on-the-Move for cash-in-transit services, and connectivity for retail and hospitality applications.

“This fully operational LEO installation is further evidence of the utility of Q-KON’s Twoobii solutions for financial services. We look forward to continuing the roll-out of LEO connectivity to more bank branches to benefit the customers.”

Dawie de Wet

Group CEO Q-KON

Key impacts include:

  • Comprehensive operational support: intranet, SD-WANs, branch online management, data backhauls, ATM services, staff and customer WiFi
  • Enhanced resilience and reduced OPEX: automated failover capabilities minimise downtime and lower operational costs through predictable service delivery
  • Consistent digital banking experiences for customers, regardless of location or terrestrial network availability

For organisations exploring satellite connectivity for banking and retail operations, this deployment demonstrates how the OneWeb LEO network delivers the resilience and performance that CIOs and IT directors of banking and other customer-led industries often require.