Everything to do with helping the communities and a lot more to do with educating their customers. This is a statement drawn from First National Bank's latest innovation - a small message service (sms) advising customers on how to save on banking fees. The service is aimed at making banking a lot simpler and cheaper by notifying customers on how to save on bank charges.

‘This service is a great way of keeping in touch with our customers and showing them that we are a caring bank that is concerned with their financial wellbeing. The objective is to play an active role in helping our customers to make smart decisions that makes their lives easier', says Pieter du Toit, CEO of FNB Smart Product House.

Customers can save a lot of money in banking fees if they know what they are paying for when they transact. Certain transactions are expensive, like withdrawing money from Saswitch machines; making cash withdrawals and deposits inside branches, drawing cash more than once per day and when debits are dishonoured or exceeding arranged transaction limits on accounts such as Mzansi.

‘What we are saying is that all of these can be avoided. We have made it our mission to monitor our customers' behaviour and then proactively notify them of a more affordable option they can use to save on bank fees - all of this for free,' adds Pieter.

The education SMS service is exclusive to all FNB customers who are registered for In-Contact. The messages offer our customers easy access to life changing information and it is FNB's way of helping customers save on bank fees and have extra cash in their pocket.

‘As a financial institution it is important for us to ensure that our customers are financially savvy and these messages are another way we are living up to our brand promise of how can we help you,' he concludes.