Windhoek
“Did you know that your bank account is more than just a place to park your money? It can be a useful tool to build your credit record, track spending, help to manage your finances and even save on fees,” says Vicky Muranda, Manager, Corporate Communications for the FNB Group.
“By paying closer attention to your bank account you may be pleasantly surprised by what it can actually do for you,” she adds, and elaborates on some ways the bank account can help customers.
Muranda says that keeping money under the mattress is
not only risky but there is also no record of where, when and what you have spent it on.
“Your bank account is the perfect audit trail as all money that goes into your account, or out of it, is recorded and kept for the lifetime of your account, making it easy to keep tabs on your income and expenses. Your bank account statements can also be used to help track and manage your monthly budget.”
She adds that there is an even more efficient tool when customers swipe their card for purchases rather than drawing and using cash, as each card swipe is recorded individually, helping customers keep track of where they spend their money.
“Another service that all banks offer is a notification service, such as FNB’s free inContact service. The bank will notify you every time you perform a transaction over a certain amount and an SMS is sent to your phone, which means that you can keep track of your expenses and your available balance on the fly.”
When people think of credit records they usually think of just credit cards or store cards, but the way you use your bank account also contributes towards your credit score.
“A bank will look at your bank account behaviour when making credit decisions. Depositing your regular monthly income into your account as well as ensuring sufficient funds to meet your debit orders and fees will all help towards building a good credit record with your bank,” says Muranda.
A good credit record is vital when applying for credit such as housing finance or a credit card and could go towards getting a lower interest rate.
“Most bank accounts come with some type of value-add or reward that incentivises customers to continue banking with them, as well as to bank in a cost effective manner,” says Muranda.
“Looking into and taking full advantage of these benefits is worth your while.”
FNB, for example, offers various value-adds such as buying airtime via cellphone banking or purchasing electricity.
‘Bank your change’ is another convenient product that you can use to save money every time you swipe.
“While it might seem to make sense to withdraw cash from your account to make payments, it is not the best way to transact,” says Muranda.
“Not only is carrying cash a problem from a safety point of view, you can also quickly rack up your bank fees if you are drawing cash frequently, and these fees can be especially high if you withdraw from another bank’s ATM.”
Most stores have a Point-of-Sale machine which will allow you to swipe your card when you purchase goods in the store instead of paying with cash.
“If you need to withdraw money, rather do it for small items only, such as taxi fares and street vendors. For everything else, swipe,” advises Muranda.
“Swiping is cheaper and safer than using cash, allows you to keep better track of your spending and is even offered free by some banks, such as FNB.”
Finally, check to see what electronic or digital services your bank account offers. Banking electronically is more convenient, cheaper and can be done anywhere.
Most transactions are far cheaper when using cellphone or online banking, or one of the other digital options such as depositing money at an ATM instead of inside the branch.
Even sending money has become easier with money services, such as FNB’s eWallet.
Using your cellphone, you can now send money to anyone, even if they do not have a bank account thereby eliminating transport and service fees that you would incur if you went directly to a money sender.
“Regular services such as making a payment to a person or accessing an account statement are very cheap if not free when using electronic or digital services,” says Muranda.
“The reason it is so much cheaper is that everything in a banking branch, from the building to the consultant and the computers, cost money, therefore if you use cellphone banking, online banking or an ATM, you are saving the bank money and the bank is able to pass these savings on to you. Let us move from bricks to clicks – and in the process save time and money,” concludes Muranda.