First National Bank (FNB) yesterday announced several new features designed to tempt potential customers over to the green side. Among those was a free Starbucks coffee a week, a great deal if you live in Gauteng and can get to one of five local stores. There’s also access to Udemy courses, a medical and armed response app called GuardMe, Slow Lounge access (FNB owns that outright now), and a games subscription.
But perhaps the most interesting of the bank’s new “lifestyle solutions” are so-called ‘Hero Device Deals’. This is a feature where apparently high-end devices are available from the bank at less than retail cost. Could it be the cheapest way to purchase tech in South Africa? Let’s take a look, shall we?
The cost of an FNB purchase
To start with, there’s already not much difference between buying most items from First National and purchasing them directly from the source. Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 4 Classic 42mm edition has a recommended retail of R7,000. Opting to go the FNB route of R299 per month (x24) adds just R180 to this total. The tricky bit is that you’re not done paying for it for two years.
This does break down a little when you examine the value of buying an iPhone 13 128GB from the bank. Officially, you’ll pay about R17,800 for one at retail. The same handset, over 24 months, clocks in at a mighty 24,000, give or take the price of a hotdog. Which is a weird unit of measurement, sure, but why not? Your mileage will vary, depending on the brand and the device in question.
Big Hero FNB
But the company’s Hero Device Deals are supposed to be considerably more valuable. Accessed via FNB’s in-app Product Shop, these are 24-month contracts that are “…cheaper than purchasing listed devices at cash price at [retail] stores”. And, based on the examples the bank has given, that’s correct. But it’s also a handy way to offload last-generation technology — at least, based on the products listed thus far.
FNB’s deals so far include the Samsung Galaxy A32, a Lenovo M10 tablet, an Apple iPad (9th gen) 10.2in, and a Lenovo IdeaPad 3. Of these, only the iPad launched in the last year. Samsung’s handset is due to be supplanted by the Galaxy A33, while the two Lenovo devices were launched in 2020.
That said, a Samsung Galaxy A32 at R150/m (the deal appears to have other pricing tiers) comes in R920 cheaper than FNB’s listed R4,500. It’s also R1,320 cheaper than Samsung’s actual RRP for the device. R90/m for a Lenovo M10 is cheaper than the bank’s listed R4,000 RRP. It’s also a little cheaper than the R3,000 price we were able to track down, by about R860. The R4,780 total price for a 9th-gen iPad 10.2in is cheaper than the R6,500 price we found basically everywhere (not counting specials). FNB also over-ranks its recommended Lenovo IdeaPad 3 pricing by about R2,000, but still manages to be cheaper (R6,700 vs. R8,000) than it can be found at retail.
Deal or no deal?
As it stands, FNB’s new deals certainly appear to be the most cost-effective way to buy the items it happens to have on sale. But we may also be facing a situation similar to that seen in Microsoft and Sony’s monthly free games. That is, products will be subject to the whims of those behind them and may not always be as attractive as the launch specials.
When the deals are great, they’re undeniably so. But they might not always be great. It’s possible that FNB’s store may wind up used as a clearinghouse for older stock. This would make it a less attractive option for those looking for deals on the latest tech. But for those just looking for any tech at a bargain-basement price, FNB’s Hero Deals might well be the real deal.