Xtra Savings can now also transact

Good news for all shoppers! Checkers and Shoprite Xtra Savings members can now transact using their Xtra Savings cards following a significant update to the Shoprite Group’s Money Market Account. The Money Market Account, which has attracted 530 000 users since it launched just over a year ago, now provides customers with transactional banking functionalities, including sending money and making withdrawals. “The development and roll out of the account have been driven entirely by customer needs,” explains Jean Olivier, General Manager: Financial Services at the Shoprite Group. Customers indicated that they like transacting with their phones, but also with a card, and some raised concerns about how to access their Money Market Account if their phone battery went dead or they forgot their phones.

Realizing that 20 million customers already had the Xtra Savings rewards card, the Group worked on a solution. Customers can now link their Xtra Savings card to their Money Market Account and will be able to use these cards to pay for items provided shoppers have funds in their account. They can use their Xtra Savings cards to pay for goods at checkout points, as they would any other bank card. Money Market Accounts offer banked and unbanked consumers, many of whom are regular customers at the Group’s stores, access to basic transactional banking activities that are specifically aimed at their needs.

The account gives them simplicity and transparency, as there are no fees and no physical forms, as it is all digital. It also offers low-cost banking with no monthly fees, no load fees, no transactional fees, only a R5 withdrawal fee, and no debit orders or deductions, as to ensure that customers are in full control of their money. Easy access is offered on any mobile phone, and available for free via the Shoprite app, USSD (*120*3534#), WhatsApp (087 240 5709) or the Xtra Savings card. Anyone can register for a Money Market Account, as a customers just need a South African ID or any passport and a South African cellphone number. “It is a straightforward account which allows customers to be in full control of their money and does not surprise them with any hidden fees,” says Olivier.

To get a Money Market Account, register for a free account in-store or download the Shoprite app from the Apple Store, Huawei App Gallery or Google Play Store, or by by dialing *120*3534#. Customers can also add Shoprite on 027 87 240 5709, or Checkers on 027 87 240 5385 as a WhatsApp contact, and follow the prompts.