It’s often a difficult question – how to manage money as a family. You share your life with your family. They celebrate your successes with you and are the go to people when you need a shoulder to lean on.
In fact, most people’s financial affairs involve taking care of family, whether to cover school fees, save for a family holiday or to attain financial security as life-long partners.
So why not consider extending the same principle to banking by enabling everyone in your family to enjoy the benefits of Family Banking?
Kamal Kalian, CEO of FNB Premier Banking, says “The idea behind Family Banking is to enable families to get the attractive benefits of banking as a group even though their accounts remain separate.
“In Family Banking, people will come across references such as linked accounts, which essentially means that your bank is aware that you are a family and you bank together. With that said, except for parents of minors, your bank account and balance details remain confidential,” says Kalian.
Kalian delves deeper into some of the key benefits of Family Banking:
Save on bank fees – banking as a family can help you save on bank fees. For instance, if one spouse or life partner has a Premier, Private Clients or Private Wealth account, the other spouse or life partner will enjoy the same benefits, including access to airport lounges, 40% back on flights and a suitable service model to help them best manage their money, without the requirement for the spouse or life partner needing to meet the monthly income requirements of the account.. The saving on monthly bank fees in the Premier, Private Clients and Private Wealth can be up to 40%.
Access to credit – if you are a couple that is married in community of property, any credit applications are treated according to your marital contract and you will be assessed on joint affordability criteria.
Depending on your income, this can substantially increase your chances of qualifying for credit such as a home loan. In the event that you are married out of community of property, your affordability is assessed on an individual basis.
Enjoy maximum rewards – rewards are increasingly becoming an important financial buffer for families and individuals due to the tough times. Although each member earns rewards individually, the spouse or main member can use the other one’s discount level and book flights with up to 40% discount for both spouses and the children. For instance, if your spouse or life partner banks at FNB and is linked to your bank account through Family Banking, you will earn an extra 1 000 eBucks. Similarly, if you link your child’s youth (FNBy) account you will get an additional 1 000 eBucks.
Help your children manage money – Your children can have their own bank account and card which they can use to transact – however, as the parent or legal guardian, you have complete control and oversight of what happens on your minor child’s account. This helps improve their financial literacy from a young age, getting them to understand the value of managing money. Your children under the age of 18 bank for free with the FNBy account and statements can be viewed on the bank’s App.
Save on telco spend – the cost of data services or communicating through voice calls, accounts for a significant amount of the average family’s expenses. Unfortunately, in a fast- moving world, these services have been very important. This is why, since July 2019, FNB has been providing customers with a free FNB Connect Sim with a monthly allocation of free data, voice minutes and SMSes to customers who hold its qualifying bank accounts and use FNB Connect. FNB Premier, Private Client and Private Wealth customers get 60 voice minutes, 500MB data and 60 SMSes on FNB Connect which amounts to R166 in value back per month.
“Family banking is just another step towards helping families to better manage their money and unlock the power of being a family. We encourage our customers and their family to consider the benefits of family banking because in some cases, it won’t only save you money, it can lead to increased opportunity to achieve more,” Kalian concludes.