Shoprite upping their game
Shoprite, like many other retail stores have upped their game in terms of services offered to their customers. These days retail stores are so much more than just the traditional “grocery seller”.
Soon consumers will be able to use the traditional Shoprite Money Market account to transact on other websites beyond the Shoprite Group.
The Money Market account has been revamped to make it more accessible for government agencies, NGO’s and small and medium sized businesses.
We all know that the Shoprite money market account can be used to pay for any transaction at Shoprite, Checkers or USave supermarkets. It is also a convenient method to pay for utility bills, buy airtime and data, save, send to or receive money from other account holders. For clients who don’t have bank accounts, being able to receive money through the Shoprite money market has always been extremely convenient considering that Shoprite stores are situated in most towns nationwide.
Jean Olivier, general manager for financial services at Shoprite says, “Customers will also soon be able to use the Shoprite money market account to transact on other websites beyond the Shoprite Group, making e-commerce more accessible to everyone”.
No forms are needed to open the account and there are no monthly fees, transaction fees or fees for loading bulk payments. No debit orders can go off the account, which means account users won’t be victims of unauthorised deductions.
“Payments including rewards, incentives and grocery vouchers are converted into digital currency or stamps that can be sent to the recipient by the employer, government agency or NGO,” Olivier says.
“The stamps are then redeemable at Shoprite, Checkers, USave or other local business and participating spaza shops, even without internet access,” he says.
Another plus will be that business owners are also able to receive payment from customers directly to their account. They will see it reflected on their cellphone if they get their customers to use their unique QR code to pay. Once the payment has been received, the business owner can use the stamps to shop online or in-store in participating stores.
Olivier says the account has been set up to make it attractive for government agency Sassa to pay grants into the account. This is because most grant recipients are already customers of Shoprite.
“We understand that the South African Social Security Agency pays R20 in fees for each beneficiary, while electronic funds transfers (EFTs) typically cost R7 per transaction,” Olivier says. He also added that Shoprite is in discussion with the agency about using the accounts for grant payments.
“These charges are not applicable on the money market transactions, so the savings are significant.”
Customers cannot make withdrawals from their Shoprite money market accounts as yet. But Shoprite says it is in talks with a local bank about a partnership that will allow this. And it will meet the Financial Intelligence Centre Act regulations.
Covid19 has changed the way people transact and deal with their money. More than that, it has made people far more savings conscious.
You can download the Money Market app on App Store or Google Play Store. In addition to that, it can also be used by customers with older phones by dialling *120*3534#.
