Savings

If you believe that every cent counts, First National Bank (FNB) has come up with a way for you to start saving your small change with its new savings feature, Bank Your Change.
Bank Your Change works by allowing you to save your "left over" cents each time you use your FNB cheque or debit card to pay for a transaction. French says FNB came up with the concept as a means to start reviving a savings culture in South Africa.
In three months, more than 12 000 customers have signed up for Bank Your Change, which is available on FNB's personal cheque accounts.
Shane French, FNB's head of consumer products, says: "The take up of Bank Your Change shows that there is appetite among South African households to save, provided there is a cheap and easily accessible tool to do so."
As a percentage of disposable income, household savings has fallen from around 5.4 percent in the 1980s to a negative 0.1 percent in 2009. This means that the average South African is not saving any money at all.
How it works
Whenever you make a purchase using your FNB cheque or debit card, the amount is rounded up to the next rand. The difference between the purchase price and the rounded-up amount is then transferred into a linked "savings pocket", at no additional cost to you.
For example, if you buy something for R32.50, the amount will be rounded up to R33 and 50 cents will be transferred.
If you want to save more, you can select an additional amount of R2, R5, R10 or R20 to be deposited in the savings pocket.
Transfers between your cheque account and the savings pocket are free, and you earn interest on your savings on a tiered basis.
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If you believe that every cent counts, First National Bank (FNB) has come up with a way for you to start saving your small change with its new savings feature, Bank Your Change. Bank Your Change works by allowing you to save your "left over" cents each time you use your FNB cheque or debit card to pay for a transaction. French says FNB came up with the concept as a means to start reviving a savings culture in South Africa. In three months, more than 12 000 customers have signed up for Bank Your Change, which is available on FNB's personal cheque accounts. Shane French, FNB's head of consumer products, says: "The take up of Bank Your Change shows that there is appetite among South African households to save, provided there is a cheap and easily accessible tool to do so." As a percentage of disposable income, household savings has fallen from around 5.4 percent in the 1980s to a negative 0.1 percent in 2009. This means that the average South African is not saving any money at all. How it worksWhenever you make a purchase using your FNB cheque or debit card, the amount is rounded up to the next rand. The difference between the purchase price and the rounded-up amount is then transferred into a linked "savings pocket", at no additional cost to you. For example, if you buy something for R32.50, the amount will be rounded up to R33 and 50 cents will be transferred. If you want to save more, you can select an additional amount of R2, R5, R10 or R20 to be deposited in the savings pocket. Transfers between your cheque account and the savings pocket are free, and you earn interest on your savings on a tiered basis. http://www.helpwithdebt.co.za