Standard Bank doesn’t want my (future) money
by Andrew on 29/11/07 at 8:36 am
11 comments
When Mark Shuttleworth opened his first business cheque account and listed his mom’s house as the company’s address, did the consultant roll her eyes and try and hurry him out of her office?
Our company needs to open a money market account to earn better interest when there is excess cash in our cheque account. Here are the interests rates on Standard Bank’s Marketlink Account:
If you only have R4,000 to put away, what message do these rates send to you? To me it said, “Keep your small change under the mattress buddy, and come back when you grow up”. The problem for Standard Bank is that if I go somewhere else today, I might not come back when my wealth grows.
Why do they need to tier the interest on a Money Market account? Does it cost Standard Bank more than a few cents a month to store my entry in their database? I do understand the economics of offering better deals to bulk spenders/investors, but come on now, 0% for the first R5,000?
Unfortunately there isn’t enough real competition in the SA banking industry, so nobody is taking the gap and treating all their customers with a uniform level of respect, but this might not be the case in your industry. Take a moment to think if your business rolls out the red carpet to everyone who comes through your door.
At Yuppiechef every order gets a handwritten letter, pink wrapping paper, an “I’m a Yuppiechef badge”, and we try to throw in a “free prize inside” whenever we can. In November and December we’re offering free delivery anywhere in South Africa, and not just for people who order over a certain amount. You get this even if you buy the cheapest thing on our site (a R49 Jamie Oliver Speed Pealer, if my memory serves me right). Go ahead, give it a try. We’ll make a loss on your first order, but we consider that part of our marketing budget because it allows us to start a relationship with you which will hopefully last a long time. You might even tell a few friends about us.
Andrew Smith is the pedantic systems guy behind Live Alchemy, a SA e-commerce company. Andrew writes for Ideate in an attempt to make the world a more efficient place. View more articles by Andrew.
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed, or follow @ideateblog on Twitter. Thanks for visiting!
Cherryflava
Nov 29th, 2007
Ah…the world of banking. Good point Andrew – I think at FNB if you have under R10 000 you earn 0% interest, so Standard Bank is not alone.
It’s ironic that South Africa’s inflation is at a level where interest rates have to be increased all the time to keep it in check, but then no incentive is given to help people save in this way.
Give me your R4000 – I’ll go collect a few more from other small investors and then dump the whole lot into this account, earn the 9.00% and give you 5%. How’s that sound?
Andrew
Nov 29th, 2007
I like what you raise about the inflation/interest issue. I was thinking exactly the same thing this week – raising interest rates are intended to curtail consumer spending, but could the reserve bank not do more to tackle the problem by encouraging saving? Perhaps tax incentives on savings (instead of taxing interest income) and issuing some bonds with ridiculously high interest rates (only accessible to individuals).
Unlikely that it would happen, but it’s nice to dream.
Des
Nov 30th, 2007
Go Andrew, this is the kind of thing that needs pushing – I think Nedbank’s figure for no interest is R20 000 – I will find out today because I will be interacting with them about this. The banking industry seems to have as their modus operandi – I wonder how we can get some more money out of our clients without providing them with a service!!
Des
Dec 3rd, 2007
Just to mention that my visit to Nedbank revealed that for under R20 000, not only is no interest paid but account maintenance costs will be incurred. You will have to pay the bank for the privilege of them using your money for their interest.
Des
Dylan
Dec 3rd, 2007
Yeah, the banks really don’t seem to take the life-time value of the customer into consideration. Particularly referring to young grads etc. I ran into this about a year ago.
Rowan
Jan 15th, 2008
Once again I have much respect for Richard Branson who is challenging the pitfalls of this country head on. The Virgin credit card is not only FREE (ie. no annual fees), but it also offers an 8.5% annual interest rate on a credit balance. Not that bad at all considering you don’t need a minimum balance of R5000 (Standard Bank) or EVEN R20 000 (Nedbank) to earn interest. In fact the most interest you will receive on the average Money Market account is around 9%. So for the average person it makes sense to go with a simple Virgin Credit card. Of course if you are wanting this as a long term investment and are not wanting the money too easily accessible, you may want to cut up the card so as to avoid itchy fingers!!!
JESSICA
Feb 25th, 2008
WILL YOU FINANCE MY NEW BUSINESS EVEN THOUGH I DONT HAVE A START UP CAPITAL
delia gratwicke
Feb 28th, 2008
how do i go about oppening a credit card to help me
Nicholas Czardas
Apr 16th, 2008
I can help Delia for free if she is in Durban/Highway/Kloof/PMB areas
Jacques du Toit
Apr 15th, 2010
Hi Andrew
I just came across this site after Googling the interest rates on Standard Bank’s Marktelink account. It’s 2010 obviously, but it is shocking to see how far these interest rates posted on this site have actually fell. I have R97 000 in my MarketLink, and I currently get 4.75%. If I go over R100 000 and let’s say all the way to R10mil, the interest rate jumps to 5.00% and stays that way. Shocking.
By the way, the R97K is also just a short term money facility for my business. If you have a better option, please let me know, as I am all ears.
Jacques du Toit
Apr 15th, 2010
Hi Andrew
I just came across this site after Googling the interest rates on Standard Bank’s Marktelink account. It’s 2010 obviously, but it is shocking to see how far these interest rates posted on this site have actually fell. I have R97 000 in my MarketLink, and I currently get 4.75%. If I go over R100 000 and let’s say all the way to R10mil, the interest rate jumps to 5.00% and stays that way. Shocking.
By the way, the R97K is also just a short term money facility for my business. If you have a better option, please let me know, as I am all ears.