- FNB has announced that moving forward its direction will be centred around advising its customers.
- The bank has unveiled a free fraud insurance product for all of its customers.
- There is a multitude of new payment solutions from the bank aimed at simplifying customers’ lives.
This morning FNB customers eagerly awaited news from the bank regarding an announcement that has been teased over the last few weeks.
Those announcements, yes there were multiple, were made at an event at FNB Bank City in Johannesburg this morning. The bank’s chief executive officer Jacques Celliers took to the stage to talk up how the bank was on a journey of change and innovation.
https://youtu.be/qwXCoHTRRyk
“For 184 years, our sense of care has been vital to our efforts to help millions of individuals, families, and businesses realise their dreams and aspirations,” said Celliers.
“Our efforts to transition beyond banking are still deeply rooted in our promise of helping customers with advice they can trust, solutions that are easy to use and safe, and a brand that is relevant at every life stage. Our journey to help customers navigate life is similar to the versatile Acacia tree, that has been deeply rooted within our brand and continues to grow and thrive withstanding the test of time,” the CEO added.
Advice at the forefront
The direction of the bank is very much centred around giving customers advice about their finances, their family’s finances or the finances of their business. As such, FNB is investing heavily in advice for customers. The CEO of FNB’s Retail and Private Banking divisions, Raj Makanjee said that over the next five years, FNB will be investing to increase the number of its advisors to 5 000.
As such, much of the redesign of FNB’s digital is centred around helping customers make sound financial decisions.
So what’s different?
First off, the logo has been flattened and simplified in keeping with the trends we’ve seen throughout the tech space. We’re not fans and we’re not sure why it had to change but we’re not designers.
The bank has also unified the look of its web portal and its app. For the longest time, the app and website have felt very disparate. This rebranding exercise should help bring more parity to both platforms.
Other changes include customers now having greater control over their home page when logging in. The bank is also introducing a new feature called Money Protect. This is free insurance that covers certain fraud-related losses that may happen through the FNB app or through its ATMs.
“We continue to facilitate our customers’ journey from analogue to digital and digital to platform. We’re excited to see millions of our customers embracing the migration to more accessible, user-friendly, and safer interfaces. Our digital interfaces have become a one-stop shop for customers’ financial and lifestyle needs, with over 3 billion transactions and 1.6 billion digital interactions over the past 12 months. Likewise, we recognise that fraud is a reality in our society, and we are continuously enhancing our measures to assist millions of our digitally active customers in mitigating these risks,” said Celliers.
The other new additions include a variety of enhanced payment solutions namely:
- Instant Payments – A first-to-market instant payment solution that enables customers to digitally pay anyone via the FNB App using just a card number. The recipient gets the money instantly in their bank account, irrespective of where they bank.
- PayMe – Allows customers to request a payment digitally to any FNB Banked cellphone number. The person requesting the money simply follows a few prompts, and the ‘payer’ is immediately notified and simply needs to accept the request to make an immediate payment.
- ChatPay – Allows customers to pay or request payment from any FNB customer using the FNB App’s chat functionality without the need for an account number. Customers can initiate a chat using their contact list, and because the interaction takes place within FNB’s platform, they can be confident that it is safe.
- Bill Payments – a quick and convenient way for customers to use the FNB App to pay their EasyPay or Pay@ bills including municipal rates, medical and other services.
- Virtual Card – Customers can now use their Global Virtual Cards for travel bookings such as buying flights or booking accommodation and adding the virtual card to third-party digital wallets such as Google Wallet or Apple Pay for convenient and safer payments when travelling abroad.
- Speedee App – Allows businesses to receive contactless payments easily and safely on their android smart devices, without the need for a separate point-of-sale device.
There is a lot happening behind the scenes at FNB and these changes have reportedly been years in the making.
“Our platform journey continues. Whether our customers need help navigating life, making every day easier, or realising their dreams for a better tomorrow, we are invested in helping them realise their goals,” Celliers concluded.