First National Bank’s mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) business, FNB Connect, has hit a subscriber milestone. The financial services group said on Monday that it now has 100 000 active Sims on its network, five months after launch.

FNB Connect CEO Ravesh Ramlakan said the bank did not expect to reach 100 000 active Sims in 2015.

Seventy-five percent of the Sims are prepaid and 25% are taken out on contract. About 40% of customers are aged between 26 and 35.

“We have been encouraging customers to take up a prepaid Sim and test the service before porting their phone number over or taking up a contract, so we are pleased to see that 25 000 Sims have been activated on a contract basis,” said Ramlakan in a statement.

The subscriber milestone comes in spite of the fact that FNB has not actively advertised the offering. That is now set to change.

“In the upcoming weeks we are planning to start advertising the features and benefits to the market, so the expectation is that we will hit the next 100 000 even quicker,” said Ramlakan.

FNB, which launched FNB Connect on 15 June, was the first major banking brand in South Africa to launch an MVNO in competition with South Africa’s incumbent mobile operators. The service is available only to FNB customers and is tightly integrated with its online and cellphone banking platforms and with its eBucks rewards programme.

Ramlakan said FNB Connect was not meant as a profit centre for the bank, but rather as a means of rewarding customer loyalty and attracting new customers. The target is those with an income of between R100 000 and R500 000 per year.