The “monster business” behind the FNB mobile app
The FNB app’s service provider business has seen significant growth over the last six months.
This is according to FNB Connect CEO Bradwin Roper, who recently spoke to MyBroadband regarding the company’s interim results and the performance of its FNB Connect MVNO and app Service Provider segments in particular.
Alongside its banking capabilities, the FNB mobile app on Android and iOS allows users to purchase products and services from 44 different partners.
These can include buying vouchers for basic items such as electricity, airtime, and groceries, but also extends further to flight ticket bookings, car rentals, and gift vouchers for spa treatments and clothing stores.
Referring to the sheer number of transactions and the value thereof in this segment, Roper said the offering has become a “monster business” which easily outperforms South Africa’s leading online retailer.
“This business does nearly three-fold the amount of turnover per annum than the biggest online retailer, and that is by volume and value,” Roper said.
This would imply that the FNB app’s service provider business makes more sales and generated more money than Takealot.
Roper stated that the app had recorded 11% sales growth year-on-year between December 2019 and December 2020.
Of this growth, 14% was among FNB’s Premium accounts base, while an increase of 19% was recorded in its Business segment.
In addition, FNB app usage sales grew by 28% in value and 23% in volume for the six months between July 2020 and December 2020.
Roper said this was largely driven by more people working from home and requiring more electricity.
New prepaid online vouchers
Roper also revealed that new vouchers for several online-based service providers had been added to the app this week.
These include vouchers for services from companies in gaming, video entertainment, music, and transport sectors.
“It’s the first time we’ve really innovated in this space,” Roper said.
He stated that this functionality will allow users to buy subscriptions or credits for online services for other people who may not have the means to pay on a monthly basis.
In addition, it will allow customers to better manage their spending by only buying what they can afford at a given time.
Online vouchers and credits can now be purchased towards the following services on the FNB app:
- App Store and iTunes
- Google Play
- Showmax and Showmax Pro
- Planet Games Mobile
- Steam
- Sony PlayStation Wallet Top-Up
- Deezer
- Spotify
- Uber Ride and Uber Eats
FNB app users can access these vouchers by tapping the hamburger menu in the top left of the main page and selecting the “Buy” option.
From here, you can choose “Vouchers” and navigate to the “Online” tab on the right to see the selection of vouchers available.
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