It’s been a bumpy road for Capitec over the last three years.

It went from putting the rest of South Africa’s banks to shame in 2017, to being under investigation by Viceroy Research a few months later (they’re the guys who took down Steinhoff).

They appear to have dodged that bullet and, as the country’s biggest bank by client numbers, it’s understandable that they’d want to do everything in their power to stay on top of their game.

Besides, how else is CEO Gerrie Fourie going to make R3 every second he breathes? That R260 263 a day isn’t going to pay itself.

To keep their clients coming back for more, the bank has decided to keep the fees for digital banking the same in 2020, reports Fin24.

The bank, which has over 6.9 million digital clients, has positioned itself as the cheapest in the market. It said the cost of managing cash had increased more than inflation, driving the need for affordable online cash exchange.

Electronic payments fees will remain the same at R1, and transfers between a customer’s own accounts, email statements and the purchase of airtime and electricity will be free on digital platforms. The Global One monthly administration fee remains unchanged at R5.

This follows the decision to lower fees in 2019. Gerrie Fourie released a statement about the fees, and also the additional perks for Capitec clients, which includes interest on their daily balances:

He said the move is aimed at ensuring safer cash transfer compared to handling large amounts of money.

The bank has also thrown in another sweetener for its clients: account holders will now earn interest on their transactional account, something the bank said was not offered by the other four big banks. Clients earn from 4.5% interest p.a. on daily balances.

“We believe your transactional account should grow your money and not just hold it,” said Fourie.

Debit order fees will remain the same at R3,50, while debit order disputes will remain at R5. Approving debit orders will be billed at R1.

Before you get too excited about all of the above, there are some changes on the horizon:

Not all prices will remain the same – there will be some adjustments in other services as from March 1. Withdrawals from Capitec ATMs will go up from R6 to R8 per R1 000, while withdrawals from non-Capitec ATMs will go up from R8 to R9 per R1 000.

South Africa’s banks have seen increased competition from digital banks, like Discovery Bank, over the past few years, inspiring them to up their game.

If it means cheaper bank fees, I’m on board with a bit of healthy jostling for clients.

[source:fin24]