Log into the FNB App with your own banking profile at least once a month (only if you\u2019re under 60)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\nNow you can have a read through the earn rules. I find it easiest to use the calculator page as mentioned in the start of this section and then start marking the rules where I already meet the requirements without even trying. For example, under the \u201cMy Cards\u201d section, if you have a Fusion account with a limit and an active card linked to it, mark that rule as yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Don\u2019t feel discouraged if some of the categories seem unobtainable, you really only need to get a handful of the points!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once you have a baseline score, you can then start picking up the points you still need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Getting the Points<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
There are some misconceptions that you need to spend a lot of money or go into unnecessary debt to reach level 5. On the contrary, thousands of points are up for grabs without spending additional money. We\u2019ll focus on these first. Afterwards, we\u2019ll look at topping up with any points we still need for the least amount of effort or additional expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Low-hanging fruit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Some of the points available are minimal effort and don\u2019t cost anything at all! If you ONLY <\/strong>do the rules discussed in this section, you should be able to reach level 4 or level 5 already.<\/p>\n\n\n\nDigital Banking<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n- (1000 points) Set up 3 \u201cSmart Budget<\/strong>\u201d categories and look at you \u201cSmart Budget\u201d each month. This can be found in the FNB App menu by going to \u201cnav-igate life\u201d, \u201cnav>> Money\u201d and \u201cSmart budget\u201d. This takes only a couple of minutes to set up the first time; in subsequent months you only need to view it. You\u2019ll need to go to the \u201cNot in my budget\u201d or \u201cUncategorised\u201d section, which should contain your usual monthly transactions. Select one of the categories (e.g., Car repayment), set a limit and select \u201cSave budget and alerts\u201d. If you do want to make better use of this feature, you can check the box for the notification when you reach the limit you set.<\/li>
- (1000 \u2013 2000 points) In addition to the Smart Budget above, if you also have a credit status<\/strong> of at least light amber (the middle one) you get additional points. You can see this estimated credit status on nav>> Money as well, under \u201cCredit status\u201d. Light amber is worth 1000 points, light green is 1500 and dark green (the highest) is 2000. This credit status won\u2019t be 100% accurate, but there might be some easy fixes you can do to get it a category up if necessary. For example, it seems that it does not recognise prepayments into a bond as \u201csavings on hand\u201d so shifting some of that to a separate savings or investment account might be worthwhile if you need a handful of points (though you\u2019ll miss out on some of the interest savings).<\/li>
- (500 – 1000 points) Do at least three FNB Pay<\/strong> (from your phone\/smart watch) transactions, with at least one being made from a virtual card to get the full 1000. This can become annoying to do when tapping your physical card is usually much easier. But a 1000 points is a 1000 points. However, setting up FNB Pay on your app is a good idea whether you plan to pursue these points or not. You do this by accessing \u201cPayments\u201d from the FNB App menu and then selecting \u201cFNB Pay\u201d. Fitbit, Garmin and Samsung\u2019s tap to pay platforms will also count if it\u2019s linked to your FNB card (I’m guessing Apple Pay will also be supported soon). I don\u2019t see an option to use a virtual card for the tap to pay, but you can select a virtual card when you do a \u201cScan to pay\u201d. Virtual cards are also a security must-have, regardless of the points, so be sure to start using them for your online purchases. Some online stores, such as Takealot, offer the Masterpass payment option, which can be used with a virtual card and \u201cScan to pay\u201d.<\/li>
- (500 points) Look at the \u201cTrack my rewards<\/strong>\u201d page each month for an easy 500 points. It\u2019s on the eBucks Rewards page in the FNB app under \u201cEarn\u201d and \u201cTrack my rewards\u201d. This page is similar to the eBucks calculator and looks like it will start tracking your daily point earn in the near future. Useful!<\/li>
- (2000 points) Doing eight financial transactions per month<\/strong> on the FNB App might sound like a lot, but can be managed quite easily by introducing a couple of habits:
- Buy your prepaid airtime, electricity, etc. from the FNB App<\/li><\/ul>
- Do inter-account transfers (e.g., paying off your credit card) on the app<\/li><\/ul>
- If you\u2019re short a couple of transactions, buy a lotto ticket \ud83d\ude0a<\/li><\/ul>
- Remember that FNB Pay and Virtual Card purchases don\u2019t also count for these!<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
My Cards<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n- (1000 points) Have an active FNB Fusion<\/strong> account<\/strong> (with a credit limit) as well as an active card linked to the account. Fusion should already be included in your account fee, but you might need to ask FNB to convert your cheque account to Fusion. There might be a bit of admin, but still an easy once-off way to get 1000 points each month.<\/li>
- (500 \u2013 2000 points) Using four streaming or online services<\/strong> from the list, all with a Virtual Card, will net you the maximum points here and you need at least two of the services for the 500 points. This one might cost you money if you don\u2019t already use at least four of them, but I think most people would already be using at least two of the services listed. Changing these to use a virtual card is a couple of minutes of admin, but it\u2019s a once-off effort that also greatly increases your security. The listed services are:
- Deezer<\/li><\/ul>
- iTunes<\/li><\/ul>
- Netflix<\/li><\/ul>
- Spotify<\/li><\/ul>
- YouTube<\/li><\/ul>
- Showmax<\/li><\/ul>
- SweepSouth<\/li><\/ul>
- Audible<\/li><\/ul>
- Google Play (and Google, listed separately)<\/li><\/ul>
- Mr Delivery Food<\/li><\/ul>
- Uber or Uber Eats (implying that using both won\u2019t count as using two services\u2026)<\/li><\/ul>
- PlayStation<\/li><\/ul>
- Xbox<\/li><\/ul>
- Bolt<\/li><\/ul>
- Checkers Sixty60<\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- (1000 points) Avoid ATM and branch withdrawals<\/strong>, or make sure your \u201cCash@Till\u201d withdrawals are more. I believe you still get these points if you have zero for all these categories. But if you do need to withdraw cash, try and do it at a retailer that supports Cash@Till (many of the Shoprite, Checkers, Pick n Pay and Spar stores do).<\/li>
- (1000 points) Spend more than 75% of your total spend on your Fusion or Credit Card<\/strong> (as opposed to your cheque card). I don\u2019t think it\u2019s possible to NOT get these points if you\u2019ve replaced your Cheque card with a Fusion card!<\/li>
- (1000 points) Have a monthly auto payment<\/strong> set up on your (active) Credit Card. The auto payment is usually set up by default, but it\u2019s worth checking (Accounts -> Credit Card -> Account Options -> Maintain Auto Payment).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Home<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n- (500 points) Use something in the Nav>> Home<\/strong> section of the FNB App. You don\u2019t need an FNB home loan to get these points (I think). You should be able to qualify for the 500 points by just using any of those services, e.g., using the \u201cFind a property\u201d tool or pulling an automatic value estimate.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Family<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n- (1000 points) Get a spouse with an active FNB Private Clients account and make sure they\u2019re registered in the \u201cMy family\u201d tab under the \u201cMy profile\u201d screen in the FNB App. Obviously, this rule is not feasible for everyone, but if you do have a spouse or life partner who banks at FNB (or that you can convince) then this is a relatively easy 1000 points.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
By satisfying these 12 rules, you should have between 10\u00a0000 and 14\u00a0000 points. This will take you to at least level 4, which requires 10\u00a0000 points. Level 5 requires 12\u00a0000 points, which should now be almost in your grasp, if not already obtained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Topping up with low effort or cost<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019ve followed the steps above, you should only need around 2 000 points max. There are still a few relatively easy options available. In most cases I\u2019ve chosen the options that would get you at least 1 000 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Spending some money:
- We\u2019ve cleared out most of the \u201cDigital Banking\u201d and \u201cMy Cards\u201d points. But if you do need to spend money on airtime anyway, you could consider getting an FNB Connect SIM: Spending R550 each month will get you 1\u00a0000 points. I haven\u2019t had major issues with coverage on FNB Connect. I think they use MTN\u2019s towers, so coverage should be similar.<\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- Saving some money:
- Under \u201cSave\u201d there weren\u2019t any obvious choices that jumped out, but if you\u2019ve got R65\u00a0000 you want to save, you can earn 1\u00a0000 points by putting it into either the short (up to 7 day access) or long term (greater than 7 day access, e.g. fixed deposit) savings products. If you have debt and don\u2019t need the liquidity it might make more sense to pay of the higher interest debt first, though (especially personal loans or credit card debt).<\/li><\/ul>
- \u201cOffshore Banking\u201d has a couple of big hitters. You can get 2\u00a0000 points by having 5\u00a0000 Euro, British Pounds or US Dollars in one of the FNB Channel Islands saving products. This is double the points that you can get in the \u201cSave\u201d section for only an additional R10\u00a0000 investment (depending on exchange rate). Again, it might make sense to pay off debt first. But if you need to have some foreign currency on hand, then this could work for you.<\/li><\/ul>
- \u201cInvest\u201d can net you 1 000 points per month if you deposit at least R3\u00a0000 into a tax-free share, unit trust or cash deposit account. If you\u2019ve already deposited your full tax-year allowance of R36\u00a0000 then you can get 1\u00a0500 points per month.<\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- Credit products:
- \u201cBorrow\u201d can give you 2\u00a0000 points if you have a loan of at least R60\u00a0000 or if you have a revolving loan that you\u2019re using at least 40% of. You should probably not get these just for the points, but this is good to know if you do need a loan.<\/li><\/ul>
- If you have a Home Loan, there are some easy points under \u201cHome\u201d, especially if you only have bonds with FNB. You get 500 points for having a flexi facility and a debit order, and at least 500 points if your utilisation is between 30% and 100%. The sweet spot for the 2\u00a0000 points is to have a utilisation of between 60% and 89.9%. It could make sense to push savings into or out of your Home Loan to make sure you get the necessary level of utilisation. For example, if you have a home loan that currently has a remaining capital balance of R1.5m, you want to prepay at least 11% (R165\u00a0000) to make sure your utilisation is below the 89.9%. This option may be more attractive than the \u201cInvest\u201d and \u201cSave\u201d options, as you\u2019re likely saving more on interest by pre-paying the higher interest home loan.<\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- Other stuff:
- If you need Insurance, there\u2019s a 1\u00a0000 points for cover of at least R1.2m. Just remember to also update your \u201cMy Health Details\u201d on the FNB App at least once a year. (Nav -> Wellness). The application process was really easy when I got the Life Simplified policy a while ago.
- If you also add a Will with FNB as the executor and keep it in FNB\u2019s custody you can get an additional 1\u00a0000 points. (The will can\u2019t be older than five years). The Will on its own can still get you 500 points without insurance.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>