South Africa's FNB has signed 100,000 users to its mobile network service since it announced plans to take on the country's telcos with the launch of its own SIM cards in June.
The FNB Flexi product provides a month-to-month contract that can be tailored to each individual’s needs by using sliders which dictate data, voice and SMS usage by the customer.
Flexi is integrated with FNB's online banking service, giving customers a single account from which to manage their financial and mobile affairs. Customers are able to check the activity on each of the SIM cards with details of each transaction made in real time.
“We didn’t expect to hit the 100 000 active SIMS mark before the end of the year but the strong organic uptake by customers is an indication that there’s a strong need for a transparent, flexible mobile service," says Ravesh Ramlakan, CEO of FNB Connect. "75% of the new SIMS are prepaid and 25% are post paid, and 40% of customers fall within the 26 - 35 age, this is a demographic that values flexibility and prefers to take control of how they spend on mobile services.”
Users are able to create their own mobile packages, take advantage of a prepaid auto top-up feature, see real time call transaction history, and set bill limits and setting notifications.
“We have been encouraging customers to take up a prepaid SIM and test the service before porting their phone number over or taking up a contract, so we are pleased to see that 25,000 SIMs have been activated on a contract basis,” adds Ramlakan. “In the upcoming weeks we are planning to start advertising the features and benefits to the market, so the expectation is that we will hit the next 100 000 even quicker."