[dropcap]F[/dropcap]irst National Bank will increase the price of its Easy Bundle and Gold Unlimited accounts in July for the first time in five and three years respectively. The price of its Premier Bundle (cheque and credit card) remains unchanged (for the fourth consecutive year) at R199/month.

The Easy Bundle monthly account fee will be R53 from 1 July 2017 (up 8% from R49), while the Easy Pay As You Use account fee will increase from R4,95 to R5,25 (up 6%). Capitec increased the monthly fee for its Global One account to R5,50 in March (from R5,25 in 2016). This seemingly provided FNB with the headroom to increase this fee in what is an ultra-competitive (and price sensitive) segment of the market.

The bank has standardised how it treats and charges for cash withdrawals across all of its channels: ATMs, cardless cash at ATM and Cash@Till. It is in FNB’s interest for customers to use the cardless method as it is more secure. Instead of a limit of a number of ATM withdrawals per month, it now bundles a rand value per month regardless of the number of transactions, after which pay-as-you-use pricing applies. Ryan Prozesky, CEO of FNB Value Banking Solutions, says “customers know their cash needs across a month, rather than the number of times they go to the ATM”.

Pay-as-you-use pricing is R1,85/R100 cash withdrawal at FNB ATMs (using a card or cardless method), unchanged from last year, while Cash@Till transactions now attract a flat fee of R1,40 (previously free). The use of other banks’ ATMs attracts an additional charge of R8 (2016: R7) plus the R1,85/R100.

The other change FNB has made across all its accounts is removing the per-page charge for bank statements printed at branches, a grudge “purchase” if ever there was one. This is now flat-rated at R25/statement. It also now offers the ability for customers to print these statements at ATMs which accept cash deposits (at R3,50/page). Prozesky says 200 000 statements were printed using this channel in April.

Detailed pricing guides for all of FNB’s accounts are available here.

Private Clients

Bundled pricing for FNB Private Clients accounts remains at R365/month for the second year running. However, customers now get online share trading access (normally R65/month) bundled in for free.

Premier

While the monthly account fee does not change on the Bundled (cheque and credit card) option, the fees for Unlimited (cheque account only) and Pay As You Use increase by 5,7% to R185 (from R175) and by 7% to R45 (from R42), respectively. Free cash withdrawal limits (at tills, FNB ATMs or cardless cash at FNB ATMs) are R9 000/month on the Bundled option and R7 000 on the Unlimited one. If a balance of R50 000 is maintained (unchanged), the monthly account fee is waived. Pricing on the Pay As You Use option for debit orders is now R18 per external and R4 per internal (FNB/Wesbank) transaction, increases of 6%. Prepaid airtime purchases on the bank’s channels cost R1,20 (from R1,15 last year) on Unlimited and Pay As You Use Premier accounts (free on Bundled). The fee for “Pay & Clear Now” payments has decreased to R45 (from R50), while Lotto and prepaid electricity purchases are now R1,95 (from R1,85).

Gold Account

Most transactions on this account are free, as there is only the Unlimited pricing option. Free cash withdrawal limits (at tills, FNB ATMs or cardless cash at FNB ATMs) are R5 000 on the Gold Unlimited account. The monthly fee for a Gold credit card will be R46 from July 1, a 7% increase from the R43 currently. There are no other material changes (only atypical transactions like those in-branch or using other banks’ ATMs have changed).

Easy Bundle

On the Easy Bundle account, monthly free cash withdrawal limits (at tills, FNB ATMs or cardless cash at FNB ATMs) are R3 000. Again, there are no other material changes for typical transactions. There are two major changes on the Pay As You Use option (R5,25/month), where Cash@Till transactions are charged at a flat R1,40 (these were free previously). Cash withdrawals via FNB ATMs cost R1,85/R100 (unchanged). The second change is that inContact SMS messages will cost 40c each (previously free). Smart inContact, via in-app push notifications, are free although there are questions about the penetration of smartphones in this base (currently it is over 50%). The bank is also pushing to have zero-rating of data usage on the app (for all customers) in place from July.

FNBy (new youth accounts)

FNB has revamped its youth offering, with a new account called “FNBy” targeted at those under 18 as well as those between 18 and 25 (students, effectively). For those under 18, there is no monthly account fee. Card swipes are free, while cash withdrawal fees are aligned with all other accounts (R1,40 at till and R1,85/R100 at FNB ATMs). Prepaid airtime purchases (ex FNB Connect) are charged at 60c/R5, with a maximum of R1,80. The offering is also introducing dual inContact where parents and youngsters receive SMS notifications for transactions (in or out) of more than R100. Account holders who use FNB’s Connect mobile virtual network operator are able to earn up to 1GB of data back from their airtime purchases. Interest is paid on balances above R100. The normal FNB app is available to these customers — however, access to certain services (like Lotto) will be restricted. For those between 18 and 25, the monthly account fee is R10. Card swipes are free, with up to R3 000 in cash withdrawals bundled. Three linked savings options are offered: a Savings Pocket, 32-day FlexiNotice deposit and Tax-Free Cash deposit account. FNB has plans to launch in-app discount coupons for retailers and outlets that suit this segment, such as clothing and movie discounts in time.