TechCentral reported on Tuesday that Pick n Pay was set to become the first mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) on MTN’s network. The companies have now published details about the PnP Mobile initiative.

PnP Mobile will be closely tied to Pick n Pay’s Smart Shopper loyalty programme, with shoppers set to get “instant data rewards” based on spend in the retailer’s stores nationwide.

South Africa’s latest MVNO will use MTN’s mobile network infrastructure to offer customers prepaid, Sim-based access to services including airtime, data and SMSes. A tiered rewards system for Smart Shopper customers will allow them to earn up to 2.5GB in free data rewards each month. Boxer Superstores is also expected to launch a Sim card soon.

“Smart Shoppers will earn data rewards in addition to loyalty points when shopping at any Pick n Pay store countrywide. This will include Express, Clothing and Liquor stores,” Pick n Pay said in a statement on Wednesday.

“For every R10 spent in store, customers will instantly earn 5MB in data. To qualify for this reward, customers will need to link their Smart Shopper card and top up their PnP Mobile Sim card with at least R50 over a 30-day period.”

Pick n Pay said customers will be able to register their new Sim card without any paperwork and within minutes through a paperless registration facility. This will be launched in 500 selected stores later this year.

Data rewards

The retailer’s chief technology and services officer, Richard van Rensburg, said: “Our pricing will be simple, transparent and competitive with other providers, plus we’ll be offering substantial free data rewards just by shopping in our stores.”

Instant data rewards will be determined by customers’ PnP Mobile spend, and will range from 250MB up to 2.5GB each month, depending on their tier.

For example, if a customer topped up their PnP Mobile Sim card with R100 and spent R1 000 on groceries, they would earn 500MB in data rewards.

The free data rewards are in addition to the data or airtime customers would have purchased with their R100 mobile spend, it said.

“Data rewards will be instantly loaded onto a customer’s Sim card after each shop. Customers will continue to earn Smart Shopper points for every shop – along with other benefits — from swiping their Smart Shopper card. These include instant Smart Price savings and personalised discounts.” — © 2020 NewsCentral Media