At some stage in your life, you’re going to have the ‘which bank is the best’ chat.

Unlike Eskom or Telkom or Prasa, and those other state-owned monopolies that aren’t bothered about providing anything resembling decent services, there is some competition regarding banks.

Even if Seth does believe that choosing between them is pointless (they’re all rubbish), it’s still worth taking a look at the big guns and what they’re offering.

BusinessTech recently analysed the entry-level accounts across South Africa’s retail banks, and calculated the monthly cost based on a set number of transactions.

Here’s what they ended up with:

So, what can we infer from this table?

Looking at the various entry level accounts – they all follow fairly similar structures, with limited differences (usually on the prices). Structurally, FNB’s Easy Account and Standard Bank’s Access accounts differ from the rest (coming out as more expensive) based on how withdrawal fees are handled…

Capitec, meanwhile, sets itself apart by its interest rebates, which lower the total price of the account. For example, a customer that has a balance of R10 000 will earn approximately R40 a month using a Capitec account, which would lower the top transactional profile down to R56…

However this is tied to the balance, and at lower levels (which would most commonly be seen by lower-income customers), the impact is less beneficial…

They’re all playing the same game at the end of the day. You might save a little here and there, but even if you never set foot in a branch once you’ve opened your account, you’re still paying for those brick-and-mortar buildings that are dotted around the country.

Thankfully, disruptors are now entering the market, and they’re set to shake things up with regards how South Africans view banking.

If you take a look at Bettr, who will be launching in the very near future, there are no brick-and-mortar buildings. If you want to open a bank account, you download the mobile banking app, submit your details and boom, you are assigned a virtual account.

Next up is the card, which arrives at your door and is linked to your virtual account, and you’re good to go.

That’s a trip to the branch and some paperwork saved, but the real beauty is that Bettr also saves on building rentals and other operational costs.

That saving is then passed onto you, the user, because your digital account is also a Zero Monthly Fee account.

I know that talking with banks can often seem like screaming into the void, but Bettr have enlisted the help of everyday South Africans during the development process, finding out what they want from a bank, and building that into their systems.

You’re free to keep on banking with the same old banks using the same old technologies, but I’m about ready for a shake-up.

Also, it gives you something different to talk about the next time the braai talk turns to banking.

Whip out the app, show off the goods, and make everyone else look like a Luddite. You’re a trailblazer now, friend.

[source:bustech]