First National Bank (FNB) cellphone banking customers will now be able to send FNB Vouchers to friends on Facebook, which can be redeemed as prepaid airtime or converted to cash using the eWallet service.
According to FNB, this is the first product of its kind from any bank in SA. FNB cellphone banking CEO Ravesh Ramlakan says: “The face of banking, as we know it, is continuously changing, and as a bank we have seen the benefits of keeping abreast with the move towards the virtual world.
“With increasing numbers of people joining and using social networks daily, this move was natural for us in terms of extending our reach and customer base.”
FNB says during the buying process, the customer creates a unique PIN for each voucher. Vouchers are purchased through the FNB cellphone banking portal.
“This unique PIN is then used by the customer to post the voucher onto a friend's Facebook wall. Only Facebook friends with a South African cellphone number can redeem these vouchers,” says FNB, adding that vouchers range in value from R25-R300 and there is a daily limit of R1 500.
If the recipient wants to convert the voucher into cash, they can choose to “cash-out” by using eWallet. The value of the voucher is then transferred to the eWallet (available for non-FNB customers), from which cash can then be withdrawn at an FNB ATM.
FNB Vouchers is the second social payments service to be available locally. At the end of last year, local developers Rob Sussman and Lance Fanaroff launched ZunguZ, a Facebook application that allows for money transfers between friends.
Users can transfer money received via ZunguZ directly into their existing bank accounts from within Facebook. According to Sussman, from the first quarter of this year, users will be able to make use of cardless ATM withdrawal functionality. South African users can activate the application via Facebook or by visiting the ZunguZ Web site.
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