In a further move to cement its position as an integrated financial services organisation offering exceptional value, Standard Bank has entered the airtime and data market with the launch today of its first mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) service, Standard Bank Mobile.
Standard Bank will be providing wireless communications services under its own brand – SB Mobile – and will be using wireless capacity from mobile operators Cell C and MTN.
How does the service work?
- an integrated (rather than a stand-alone) service, which rewards subscription customers with free airtime and data for doing something they do every day – bank.
- Customers also earn free data every time they use their credit , cheque or debit cards.
- Standard Bank Mobile also done away with data bundles, customers can select the data price that suits them, with no expiry. Data pricing is from 5 c per mb.
Signed up customers to SB Mobile will not be beholden to onerous terms and conditions to get their airtime or data. Rewards are tiered so that every time they transact they get something back – 1MB of data is given back for every R10 spent on all transactional cards, for instance, at a monthly fee of R39. Youth and inclusive banking clients will pay no fee, however.
Tiers are based on Elite (R105 free airtime), Prestige (R205), private and professional (R369) and Wealth & Signature (R469 in free airtime). All credit card transactions for signed up SB Mobile clients qualify for 1MB for every R10 and R100 free airtime for the R39 monthly fee.
SB Mobile plans to provide handsets in the first quarter of next year and to add broadband services – like fixed LTE and fibre – shortly afterwards. The current service will provide a branded sim card with a new number, while existing cell numbers can also be retained.
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