Xtra Savings members can now transact using their Xtra Savings cards following a significant update to the Shoprite Group’s Money Market Account.
The Money Market Account, which has attracted 530 000 users since it launched just over a year ago, now provides customers with transactional banking functionalities, including sending money and making withdrawals.
“The development and roll out of the account have been driven entirely by customer needs,” explains Jean Olivier, General Manager: Financial Services at the Shoprite Group.
Customers indicated that they like transacting with their phones, but also with a card, and some raised concerns about how to access their Money Market Account if their phone battery went dead or they forgot their phones.
Realising that 20 million customers already had the Xtra Savings rewards card, the Group worked on a solution. Customers can now link their Xtra Savings card to their Money Market Account and will be able to use these cards to pay for items provided shoppers have funds in their account. They can use their Xtra Savings cards to pay for goods at checkout points, as they would any other bank card.
Money Market Accounts offer banked and unbanked consumers, many of whom are regular customers at the Group’s stores, access to basic transactional banking activities that are specifically aimed at their needs.
The account gives them:
- Simplicity and transparency, as there are no fees and no physical forms (all digital);
- Low-cost banking with no unwanted fees (no monthly fees, no load fees, no transactional fees, only a R5 withdrawal fee);
- No debit orders or deductions, so customers are in full control of their money;
- Easy access – on any mobile phone (feature & smart phones); and available for free via the Shoprite app, USSD (*120*3534#), WhatsApp (087 240 5709) or the Xtra Savings card.
- Retail hours – at all Shoprite, Usave and Checkers supermarkets – seven days a week enabling customers to transact when they want and make one trip instead of going to a store and a bank.
Anyone can register for a Money Market Account as customers just need a South African ID or any passport and a South African cellphone number.
“It is a straightforward account which allows customers to be in full control of their money and does not surprise them with any hidden fees,” says Olivier.
To get a Money Market Account, register for a free account in-store or:
- Download the Shoprite app from the App Store or Google Play Store
- Dial *120*3534#
- Add Shoprite (+27 87 240 5709) or Checkers (+27 87 240 5385) as a WhatsApp contact and follow the prompts
