Nedbank increases bundle account fees by 6%

After holding its mid-market “everyday” bundled account pricing steady in 2017, Nedbank has announced an increase of 6% on these three accounts from January 1 2018 (detailed pricing guides are available on its website here). The mass market Ke Yona Bundle increases from R50 to R53 a month, the Savvy Plus account from R100 to R106 and the Savvy Bundle (with a Platinum credit card) from R180 to R190 per month.

Aside from 2014, when it held transactional fees steady in 2014 “to assist in slowing client attrition”, fees have increased – on average – by at least 4% a year. It passed an average 4.3% increase in 2013, increased fees by an average of 5.6% in 2015, by 4.3% in 2016 and by an average of 4.6% in January 2017. The bank’s retail non-interest revenue increased by 5.7% in the first six months of this year. Revenue from transactional accounts and cards was up 6.2% despite main-banked customers dipping by 0.3% (overall retail customers were up 2.8%).

Like other banks, it has increased most “out of bundle” charges. Card replacement fees on its transactional accounts and credit card products are now R130 across the board, a big jump on the lower-end (Ke Yona and pay-as-you-use) where this currently costs R100. In fact, two years ago, the card replacement fees on those accounts used to be R60 and R40, meaning fees have more than doubled on Ke Yona and tripled on pay-as-you-use!

Nedbank has also passed sizeable increases to the costs of in-branch transactions, particularly those involving cash. To help push (force?) customers to use its auto-depositor ATMs, of which it now has nearly 1 000, it will not charge for cash deposits on these until after a monthly threshold (R7 000 on the Savvy Bundle, R5 000 on Savvy Plus and R3 000 on the Ke Yona Bundle).

In-branch cash deposits now cost R30 plus R1.50 for every R100 (or part thereof) deposited on all accounts, from R11 plus R1.40/R100, an increase on the base fee of 173%! This means that a deposit of R2 000, for example, will cost R60 in 2018 (from R39 currently). Cash deposits at a Pick n Pay or Boxer till point, by comparison, cost only R5 plus R1.50 per R100.

** Then R5 + R1.50 per R100 (from R4.50 + R1.40 per R100)

Minimum monthly credit card fees have been increased in the mid-tiers (classic and gold), also by around 6%. On the lower-end, the monthly fee for the Ke Yona credit card is up over 8%, while pricing on the higher-end, its Platinum card, is unchanged. The bank notes that it could charge as much as R68.40 a month (the maximum allowed under the National Credit Act), and that this “depends on your risk profile”. It has increased the price of its monthly credit facility fee by 7%, and its Greenbucks (loyalty) linkage fee by 5%. The former is mandatory and was “unbundled” from a flat fee last year.

As an example, a Gold credit card customer (with Greenbucks linked) will pay at least R65.90 a month, from R62 currently, a 6.3% increase.

* This is a minimum amount and could be as much as R68.40

• An analysis of Absa’s pricing changes was published on Moneyweb on Monday (read: Absa hikes fees)
• An analysis of Standard Bank’s pricing changes will follow this week. FNB price changes are effective July 1 each year.

Hilton Tarrant works at immedia. He can still be contacted at hilton@moneyweb.co.za.

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