Mzansi: SA banking spreads it net
22 October 2004
South Africa's new low-cost national bank account, "Mzansi", launches on 25 October, extending banking to low-income earners and those currently living beyond the reach of banking services in the country.
According to the Banking Council's co-ordinator for access initiatives, Charles Chemel, about 13 million South Africans are currently "unbanked". This figure includes those people who choose not to make use of banks.
The account, along with the use of "container branches" and mini-ATMs in townships and rural areas, is part of an initiative by the country's banks to put full-service banking within at most 15 kilometres of all South Africans and an automatic teller machine (ATM) within at most 10 kilometres of their homes.
This is in line with the financial sector's black economic empowerment charter, which set a the target of providing affordable first-order banking services within a 20km radius of 80% of the population
Mzansi
will be a basic, standardised, debit card-based transactional and savings account. To keep costs as low as possible and to ensure that the account is easy to use, transactions will be limited to deposits, withdrawals and debit card payments.
No management fees are charged on Mzansi accounts, and one free cash deposit per month is allowed. Mzansi customers will thus be able to save without having their capital eroded by bank charges, with the only charge being for transactions made - and with ATM transactions costing the same regardless of which bank's ATM is used.
The account also includes a debit card that can be used at retail outlets
People will be able to open the Mzansi account at any of the country's four major retail banks - Absa, FNB, Nedcor and Standard Bank - as well as at Postbank. All that is required to open the account is a valid ID document.
Each bank will establish its own ATM and branch transaction fees competitively.
SouthAfrica.info reporter
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