Martin Endjala
The First National Bank of Namibia has reduced the charges on some of its services as a way of cutting deeper to support customers.
The fee reductions include card swipe fees on Bankwise lifestyle accounts, fees on international card swipes, reduced cost of ATM withdrawals for its student client base and reduced external debit order fees for its transmission account holders.
The reduction in service fees will offer huge fee-saving opportunities for customers who use the bank’s alternative channels, feature across FNB Namibia’s newly released July 2023-June 2024 pricing for products and services. This pricing is effective from the 1 July 2023.
FNB’s Executive Officer of Retail Banking, Nangula Kauluma said that the move is part of FNB’s commitment to encourage their customers to embrace lower cost and more convenient digital channels.
FNB has reduced the Cash@Till and online payment fees, as well as free eWallet at till and eWallet CashPlus Agent withdrawals.
These channels the bank said are a feature of the bank’s commitment to financial inclusion and real help in an environment of continued rising costs.
“We believe that the consistent innovation and investment in our digital channels is the future of banking. Our alternative banking channels have become a standard channel for many consumers.
More and more customers actively use solutions such as Advance Deposit Taking (ADTs) machines, the Cash@Till service, CashPlus banking, the FNB app and the extended eWallet services for their banking needs.
These solutions deliver enhanced ways in which FNB customers can bank more affordably, easily, and efficiently, and we have observed significant uptake by our customers over the past three years,“ Kauluma said.
Kauluma further lauded the 17 000 FNB customers, who took their time to provide feedback during its recent customer satisfaction survey. Noting that their feedback covered rating of their products regarding value for money, customer channel preference and service overall, which has been incorporated in the most recent price review.
The increase in customer satisfaction levels overall, particularly with its digital channels, encouraged them to continue to look for ways to extend pricing benefits to customers.
She added that Value-based banking is just one of the ways they continue to support customers. She is therefore encouraging customers to familiarise themselves with the new pricing, which is available on the FNB website.
According to the pricing guideline, the monthly account Fee for Gold Lifestyle card customers earning between N$7000-25 000 per month, the fee charge is N$48.50 pay as you use and the electronic pricing option is N$157, while Platinum Lifestyle is N$90 pay as use and electronic pricing option N$224.
Meanwhile, Cardwise Zero users, anyone earning irregular income less than N$2 500 per month or N$30 300 per annum and LifeSart Student Accounts monthly fee charges are charged at a free cost.
