Staff Reporter
Windhoek-Mothers deserve a lot of credit for the variety of life lessons they teach children; including guidance on finances. “In fact, more than eight in ten Americans say they learned something about money from their mothers,” says Elzita Beukes, manager of corporate communications at FNB Namibia.
“In light of the recent Mother’s Day and Women’s Month, we thought it great to share some of the financial wisdom and savings tips we learned from our mothers that are still applicable today.
‘We believe that a woman who has a bank account can take care of herself and her family, and while there are always exceptions to the rule, women have proven to manage debt and tend to put away more for a rainy day.”
Elzita adds: “The most fundamental rule to remember is to live within your means and to differentiate between a want and a need. Do you really need another pair of shoes, or are the four pairs in the cupboard sufficient for now?
“This is something I learned from my mother and she also taught me to shop wisely and consider sales. These tips will stretch the budget to last a little longer.” Most mothers are interested in their kids’ learning about money and the day-to-day aspects of financial management.
“Life lessons like “don’t be late” and “practice, practice, practice” and “don’t be afraid to ask for help” and many others have direct application to your finances. After all, it’s wise indeed to never make a late payment, to ensure that enough money is in the account for all the debit orders that go off and to seek advice on complicated money matters.”
FNB Namibia offers a number of products that speak to the needs of women and their families, such as the Flexi Fixed Deposit accounts, which allow customers to deposit additional funds into the account during the investment term, which can be either 3 or 12 months, as well as two withdrawals to the value of 15% of the available balance), Bank Your Change, POS for transactions when doing grocery shopping, Cellphone Banking (Airtime Purchases for the kids) and Cardless ATM withdrawals, if you forgot your card at home when running between work, school and home.
Then there are the future accounts for school-going kids, student loans for students and credit cards, which probably all women like.
“One of the greatest products we offer at FNB that may appeal to the more prudent woman – is the Bank Your Change, as it is a feature on all transactional accounts which uses a linked Savings Pocket to automatically transfer money from your transactional account to your savings account, when you pay with your Debit Card,” Elzita says.
This feature is an innovative way for customers to automatically save their “leftover” cents or change when they swipe their debit card. It helps the customer save their money automatically, as you are saving while you shop and can determine how much must be set aside every time you swipe your debit card.