The Mzansi bank account for low-income, previously unbanked people, saw 557 439 accounts opened by the first week in February, the Banking Council announced on Wednesday.
”Mzansi has been successful way beyond our and any other stakeholders’ expectations,” said Colin Donian, director of the Mzansi initiative.
The first set of data showed the account was achieving its aim of providing affordable and accessible banking to the ”previously unbanked” population.
The progress of the account was discussed during round-table discussions in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
Launched on October 25, 2004, the Mzansi account was conceived out of the requirements set out in the Financial Services Charter and is supported by Absa, First National Bank, Nedbank, Standard Bank and PostBank.
It was part of the banks’ attempts to draw in the estimated 13-million people who cannot afford the controversially high fees levied by most banks.
Mzansi is based on simplicity and account holders can use any of the bank’s ATMs and be charged the same amount.
However this initiative had not been without challenges.
”The greatest challenge had been entering a market unaccustomed to formalised banking, language used in branches, filling in of application forms and usage of debit cards,” Donian said.
The next step would be a financial literacy and education programme to empower clients with the right information to make financial decisions.
Data collected from participating banks showed that more than 6 000 accounts were opened across the country each day.
With any of these banks, an average 90% of Mzansi account holders had no prior relationship with that institution.
The target market of the initiative has largely been reached with 56% of accounts belonging to women and 27,1% belonging to people between the ages of 16 and 25.
The racial breakdown showed account holders reflected the country’s ”population demographics”, with the largest uptake coming from black communities.
Mzansi brought R160 -million into the formal banking sector, with an average of R290 currently held in each Mzansi Account. – Sapa