As a price war intensifies in South Africa’s banking sector, FNB has announced it will cut the fees of some accounts, improve the earning potential for customers in the eBucks loyalty programme, and offer free airtime and data to account holders.

FNB account holders who sign up for the bank’s mobile virtual network operator, FNB Connect, will receive free data, airtime, voice minutes and SMSes from 1 July, the bank said in a statement on Wednesday. FNB Connect piggybacks on Cell C’s network.

Customers who hold an Easy Account (Smart Option) get 30 voice minutes, 80MB of data and 30 SMSes each month. Gold and Gold Fusion account holders will get get 60 voice minutes, 120MB of data and 60 SMSes monthly on FNB Connect at no additional monthly cost.

“The FNB Connect benefits for Easy and Gold account holders equates to the monthly fees on the respective bank accounts and this is a major cost-saving for customers,” the bank said.

Premier, Private Clients and Private Wealth account holders will each get 60 voice minutes, 500MB data and 60 SMSes on FNB Connect. Easy Account customers can also earn R50 in FNB Connect airtime by spending R1 or more on Easy Accounts at Usave, Checkers or Shoprite stores.

In addition, the bank said it will make eWallet eXtra a fully fledged bank account called Easy Zero with no monthly fees effective by October 2019.

The changes are part of FNB’s annual pricing and rewards review.

Free savings account

“We are also encouraging a savings culture by offering qualifying customers a free savings account, and family banking through our Spousal accounts as well as the free youth account, which has zero fees for electronic transactions,” said FNB Retail CEO Raj Makanjee.

From 1 July, FNB will cut monthly fees on Easy Pay As-You-Use (R5.75 to R4.95), Easy Account Smart Option (R65 to R59) and Gold Fusion (R155 to R109).

Free benefits for Premier, Private Clients and Private Wealth cheque account holders have been “increased substantially”, while fees are unchanged on each of the accounts.

Private Client and Private Wealth customers will get a free Global Account with one Signature Card, a Money Maximiser as well as a Local and Global Trader accounts. The monthly fee on the Premier Spousal account is reduced (R185 to R149) with a free FNBy (youth account) available to all FNB customers.

Some of the changes coming to the eBucks loyalty scheme include:

No minimum eBucks required to qualify for discounts when booking flights on eBucks Travel;
Double Up on Fuel and earn up to R8/litre back in eBucks every quarter at Engen;
FNB Life Insurance Simplified and Customised policyholders can earn up to 40% back in eBucks;
Clients can earn up to 4% back in eBucks on the FNB Global Debit Card purchases; and
eBucks members will now be able to spend their eBucks to pay for Computicket events under the “eBucks Tickets” tab on eBucks.com.

“While FNB continues to encourage customers to use free or zero-rated electronic banking channels available on its platform, the bank is also making cash withdrawals more affordable for account holders to accommodate their cash needs,” the bank said. “Customers who hold bundled pricing are afforded free cash withdrawals, capped in accordance with the average cash needs of each bank account.” — © 2019 NewsCentral Media