

First National Bank (FNB) cheque account holders who qualify for the bank's smart device purchase offer can now buy up to four devices on their banking profiles - dependent on affordability.
This comes two years after FNB introduced its smartphone and tablet offer as part of the bank's strategy to drive cashless payments and digital banking. Qualifying clients can buy certain devices at discounted rates through the bank, payable over a 24-month period, interest-free.
In the past, customers were limited to one device and would have to buy their current device out at full price if they want to purchase a new device, or wait until the 24-month payment period was completed. Now, says FNB, clients have the option add additional devices to their profile through online banking or in a dotFNB outlet.
Kartik Mistry, head of smart devices at FNB Core Banking Solutions, says the amendment to the bank's smart device terms and conditions comes on the back of customer demand for the ability to purchase a second smart device on their profiles.
"We have long been aware of the fact that our customers use a variety of our platforms to perform their banking transactions and it was therefore a natural extension of our service delivery to include the ability to acquire multiple devices for the multiple banking platform behaviour."
Since inception in October 2011, the product variety available on this offer has grown to include smartphones, tablets, laptops and - most recently - the Xbox 360. FNB says further gaming products will be added to the smart device offer in future.
Four months after the launch of the offer, FNB said it had been taken up with unflagging interest. The bank sold over 35 000 Apple iPads in a period of about four months, it said.
At the time Mistry said, while the iPad was the most popular device among the brands on offer - then including BlackBerry, HTC and Samsung - the South African market also favours devices on the Android platform. Between HTC and BlackBerry, he said, FNB had sold approximately 7 000 devices in the early period.
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