I’ve been looking into the different FNB accounts lately, and eish, it’s a bit of a maze if you’re just trying to figure out where your money is best kept. I thought I’d break it down for us here so we don’t all have to spend hours on their site.
Basically, you’ve got the Easy accounts if you’re just starting out or want something low cost. The FNB Easy is a proper budget option, and there’s even an Easy Zero for those of us who really want to kill off those monthly fees. It’s basic, but it does the job.
Then you move up to the Gold account. This is more for the average person who wants a bit more flexibility and better eBucks potential without jumping into the high end stuff.
Once you’re earning a bit more, you hit Premier. This is where you start getting actual perks, like a dedicated banker and better rewards, but you’ve got to keep your monthly income up to make it worth it.
And then there’s Private Wealth. This is for the big players, providing full financial management and a level of service that’s way beyond a standard branch experience.
In my experience, the jump from Gold to Premier is where most people get stuck, usually trying to chase those higher eBucks levels. I’ve found that unless you’re actually using the private banking services, sticking to a lower tier and just managing your spend is often the way to go.
Which one are you guys using, and do you think the Premier perks are actually worth the monthly cost these days?
Good breakdown RianS. A few things worth adding from what I have seen on the product side.
The Easy Zero is genuinely underrated for people who keep a small float and transact mostly digitally. The catch is that you do not earn eBucks on it, so if you are even mildly active with spending it stops making sense.
On the Gold versus Premier debate, the income threshold for Premier is currently R25 000 per month. What a lot of people miss is that Premier gives you free international travel insurance if you pay for your flights with the card, which alone can justify the monthly fee if you travel even twice a year.
Private Wealth starts at R58 000 monthly income or R20 million in investable assets. It comes with a dedicated private banker and things like free global airport lounge access, but at that level you are really comparing it against offerings from Investec or RMB Private Bank rather than standard FNB tiers.
The eBucks structure is probably the most misunderstood part. Your level is determined by how much you use FNB products across banking, insurance, home loans and so on. A Premier client who only uses the bank account and nothing else will sit at a lower eBucks level than a Gold client who has their home loan, car finance and life cover all through FNB.
So the account tier and your eBucks level are two different things, and that trips a lot of people up.
One more thing while we are on the topic. I built a small tool on the site specifically for this: FNB Account Package Finder
It is aimed at people who are already on Premier, Private Clients or Private Wealth and want to know which of those three actually earns them the most eBucks given their real spending. You plug in what you spend monthly at Pick n Pay, Spar, Clicks and Engen, whether you have WesBank vehicle finance or FNB car insurance, and your total card spend. It then calculates your estimated eBucks at Reward Level 5 across all three packages and works out the net value after fees.
So if you are sitting on Premier at R250 a month and wondering whether jumping to Private Clients at R455 would actually pay for itself in extra eBucks, that is exactly what it tells you. Sometimes the answer surprises you.
Small correction on the Easy Zero point above — Easy customers do earn eBucks, including Easy Zero account holders.
The difference is that Easy accounts max out at Reward Level 3 (not Level 5 like the higher tiers), and the earn rates are lower. For example, at Level 3 you’d earn less back per litre at Engen and lower percentages at partner stores compared to Premier+ at Level 5.
So the account isn’t eBucks-free — it’s just capped at a lower tier. If you’re a light spender it can still be worth it, but if you’re transacting regularly the reduced earn rates do add up.