{"id":573463,"date":"2024-12-02T12:00:34","date_gmt":"2024-12-02T10:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=573463"},"modified":"2024-12-10T17:42:00","modified_gmt":"2024-12-10T15:42:00","slug":"banks-taking-on-mobile-networks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/cellular\/573463-banks-taking-on-mobile-networks.html","title":{"rendered":"Banks taking on mobile networks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Several banks have launched mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) with attractive data prices and value-added features that benefit their customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike fully-fledged mobile network operators, MVNOs don’t operate their own mobile network infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They can run with much smaller teams and deliver new features and changes faster than larger operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, depending on the wholesale deals they have with their upstream mobile operator, they may be able to experiment more with package structuring and pricing than the traditional players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The oldest bank-run MVNO in South Africa is FNB Connect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FNB Connect launched its MVNO offering in 2015, initially roaming on Cell C’s network and adding MTN as a partner in June 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FNB Connect had 958,000 subscribers by June 2024 and generated R18.6 billion in revenue in the bank’s 2024 financial year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it lost its title as the country’s biggest MVNO to the two-year-old Capitec Connect sometime in the past year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of August 2024, Capitec Connect had 1.2 million active subscribers, up from 900,000 a year earlier. Less than three months later, that number had grown to 1.4 million. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

User activity on Capitec Connect’s network has also been impressive, with 29.7 million voice minutes used in 2023, more than tripling to 95.1 million minutes in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Total mobile data consumption across the network also surged 264% from 1.4 petabytes to 5.1 petabytes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Combined with Capitec’s other value-added services, the MVNO contributed about R1.5 billion to the bank’s headline earnings in its 2024 financial year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capitec Connect runs on Cell C’s network, which is maintained by MTN. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Editorial credit: Roxane 134 \/ Shutterstock.com\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The third biggest bank-run MVNO is Standard Bank Connect, which has amassed over 300,000 customers since launching in 2018. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The MVNO was initially called Standard Bank Mobile but was rebranded in June 2024 as part of the bank’s strategic telecommunications direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to introducing new data and voice packages, Standard Bank ditched Cell C<\/a> and moved over to MTN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standard Bank Connect head Kartik Mistry said the transition would be gradual, with customers getting invited to join its pilot programme over time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most recently launched bank-run MVNO is Spot Mobile, operated by Bidvest-backed Spot Money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rolling out in January 2024, Spot Mobile offers a free prepaid physical SIM or eSIM and several month-to-month packages with monthly mobile data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of its launch deals, it gives prepaid customers R50 in free airtime every month and 1GB of mobile data for the first month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most affordable month-to-month offering from Spot Mobile is a 5GB data-only plan priced at R159 per month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For just R30 more, customers can get the same data with 2,000 voice minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capitec Connect is best for low prepaid data prices<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

MyBroadband compared the prepaid and month-to-month data prices of the four MVNOs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A perfect like-for-like comparison was impossible due to their widely-ranging data allocations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, we found that Capitec Connect was the cheapest for all bundles where it competed directly with other products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also generally offered the best value per MB when compared with similar bundles from its competitors with slightly more or less data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FNB Connect had the widest range of bundles but was generally the most expensive of the four MVNOs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standard Bank Connect only offered larger or longer-lasting bundles and month-to-month packages. The prices of these packages and bundles were competitively priced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spot Mobile was the cheapest for several of the monthly products. Even its combined voice call and data products were more affordable than FNB Connect’s data-only bundles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The table below compares the prices of data bundles from the four bank-run MVNOs in South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bundle<\/th>Capitec Connect<\/th>FNB Connect<\/th>Spot Mobile<\/th>Standard Bank Connect<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Daily<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
100MB<\/td>R3<\/mark><\/strong><\/td>R11<\/td>–<\/td>–<\/td><\/tr>
250MB<\/td>–<\/td>R19<\/td>–<\/td>–<\/td><\/tr>
500MB <\/td>R13<\/strong><\/mark><\/td>R29<\/td>–<\/td>–<\/td><\/tr>
1GB <\/td>–<\/td>R49<\/td>–<\/td>–<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td><\/tr>
Weekly<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
250MB<\/td>R7.50<\/td>–<\/td>–<\/td>–<\/td><\/tr>
500MB<\/td>–<\/td>R35<\/td>–<\/td>–<\/td><\/tr>
1GB<\/td>R29<\/mark><\/strong><\/td>R55<\/mark><\/td>–<\/td>–<\/td><\/tr>
2GB <\/td>–<\/td>R99<\/td>–<\/td>–<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td><\/tr>
Monthly<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
1GB<\/td>–<\/td>–<\/td>R49<\/td>–<\/td><\/tr>
1.5GB<\/td>–<\/td>R75<\/td>–<\/td>–<\/td><\/tr>
2GB<\/td>R59<\/mark><\/strong><\/td>–<\/td>R95<\/td>–<\/td><\/tr>
2.5GB<\/td>–<\/td>–<\/td>–<\/td>–<\/td><\/tr>
3GB<\/td>–<\/td>–<\/td>R129<\/td>–<\/td><\/tr>
4GB<\/td>–<\/td>R189<\/td>–<\/td>–<\/td><\/tr>
5GB<\/td>R145<\/mark><\/strong><\/td>–<\/td>R159*<\/td>R229<\/td><\/tr>
6GB<\/td>–<\/td>R279<\/td>–<\/td>R129*<\/mark><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
10GB<\/td>R199<\/mark><\/strong><\/td>–<\/td>R199*<\/mark><\/strong><\/td>R209* | R399<\/td><\/tr>
12GB<\/td>–<\/td>R499<\/td>–<\/td>–<\/td><\/tr>
15GB<\/td>–<\/td>–<\/td>R249*<\/td>–<\/td><\/tr>
20GB<\/td>R299<\/mark><\/strong><\/td>R549<\/td>R299<\/mark><\/strong>*<\/mark><\/td>R299*<\/mark><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
25GB<\/td>–<\/td>R549<\/td>R399<\/mark><\/strong> | R459**<\/td>–<\/td><\/tr>
30GB<\/td>–<\/td>R599<\/td>R449<\/mark><\/strong> | R499**<\/td>–<\/td><\/tr>
50GB<\/td>R599<\/td>–<\/td>–<\/td>–<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody>
*Month-to-month packages<\/em>.
**Includes 2,000 voice minutes.<\/td><\/tr><\/tfoot><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bank-run mobile virtual network operators offer attractive data prices and value-added features for their customers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341042,"featured_media":462138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10106,14],"tags":[5334,81699,1313,5922,20557,97070,1851,95389],"class_list":["post-573463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-banking","category-cellular","tag-capitec","tag-capitec-connect","tag-fnb","tag-fnb-connect","tag-mobile-virtual-network-operator-mvno","tag-spot-mobile","tag-standard-bank","tag-standard-bank-connect"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573463"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341042"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=573463"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573463\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":575397,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573463\/revisions\/575397"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/462138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=573463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=573463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=573463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}