FNB has announced that R9,5-billion has been withdrawn from tills across South Africa since the inception of the Cash@Till service for customers in 2012. Sixty-five percent of this amount was withdrawn in the last year alone (since July 2013).
“We have seen strong take up of our Cash@Till service as customers withdraw from retailers across the country. The service helps busy shoppers by cutting out an extra visit to the bank and providing free access to cash,” says Rya-Mari Muller, head of Customer Value Solutions at FNB.
Cash@Till was first introduced in 2012 as a service that enables customers with Chip & Pin Cheque Cards to add an amount to their bill, and receive this in cash when purchasing groceries, goods or services with their Cheque Card.
“We are constantly looking at ways in which to improve delivery to customers and introduced the Cash@Till service in order to improve customer service and cut transactions fees,” says Muller.
It is entirely free for all FNB customers to withdraw at the partner retailers, regardless of the amount or the number of times cash is withdrawn, which makes this service particularly attractive.
“We have been able to make this service free to all our customers to encourage them to draw cash from retailers as it not only benefits customers but also the retailers,” says Muller.
FNB has various retailer partners across South Africa including Shoprite, Checkers, Boxer, Pick n Pay and selected Spar stores where customers can use this service.
“It is a win-win situation as the retailers benefit from channelling cash back to the consumer and stemming the high cost of cash-deposit fees as well as the costs of handling cash,” says Muller.
On average customers withdraw between two and six times per month from retailers and withdraw on average R600 a month.
“We do encourage customers to use electronic means whenever they can, however we also understand there are times that cash is necessary, especially for smaller expenses such as tuck-shop money for children during the week,” says Muller.
There is no minimum withdrawal amount which means it is easy to add small amounts and not run the risk of transaction costs adding up.
“While the growth in Cash@Till shows that customers are adopting it as an alternative cash withdrawal method, we would like to see further growth and are looking at widening our footprint of retailers where the service is available. We will also encourage customers through communication and free transaction fees to adopt this service as widely as possible,” concludes Muller.
In order to use the service, customers need to have a Cheque Card. The cash limit is the same as ATM daily limits and is capped at a maximum of R3 000.
