Things have been a bit rough in Mzanzi over the past few months. Following the third COVID-19 wave hitting us hard and the civil unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng, businesses and people in the affected communities have suffered.

FNB is attempting to assist with relief measures by rolling out mobile ATMs to some of the affected areas starting with Dalton and Harding while other units will be at Jozini and Richmond. It will also deploy units to Vosloorus, Sebokeng, Diepkloof and Orange Farm in Gauteng.

FNB mobile ATMs aren’t much, but they’re a start

In a press release issued today, Lee-Anne van Zyl, CEO of FNB Points of Presence says, “Our immediate plans have focused on mobile ATMs to help communities and SASSA grant recipients with cash needs, and we are simultaneously working to deploy mobile branches in a matter of days.” She goes on to say, “…we’re also working with other banks to ensure that customers can use any bank’s ATMs without incurring Saswitch fees.”

This is a good step towards giving consumers access to cash so that they can once again contribute to the economy. Whether FNB will be able to keep those mobile ATMs stocked with cash is another story. That last bit about no Saswitch fees is a welcome sight. Let’s hope these mobile ATMs don’t become targets, otherwise, they’ll have to call that one oak from that video.

Even with these new mobile ATMs on the way, FNB still encourages customers to use the different online methods for their day to day banking like the FNB app or cellphone banking, because that pandemic isn’t just going away.