Expand, in case you weren’t aware, is an app that has partnered with Nedbank to give away money. Every night at 20:00, people start playing in the hopes they’ll take home cash prizes. The best of the bunch for the night can take home R10,000. Not too shabby. And all you need to do is be very familiar with brands in South Africa, which may or may not count as brainwashing.
Over R5.5million has already been claimed from the Expand app since its October 2021 launch. So, of course, the app is keen on getting more people playing. Because it’s not just about giving away money, it’s also about advertising. More or less.
Expanding your wallet
The game runs on weeknights at 20:00. It’s a ‘be there or be square’ setup, so don’t be late. The game opens at 19:57 every night, giving players enough time to prepare for the battle coming battle.
The game consists of two parts. The first part, the ‘Reveal’, sees players shown a brand, logo, packshot, or similar branded image. This logo is slowly revealed, rather than being shown in one go. The players will need to identify the brand or logo in under 30 seconds in order to move on to step two. It’s a little like Noot vir Noot, but for ad agencies.
Players that successfully identify the brand or logo in the allotted time move on to ‘Watch and Win’. Here, a video (which, let’s be honest, is a bloody ad) related to the brand or logo is shown. There’s a question that players must correctly answer. Do that and you qualify for the cash prize. And, if you don’t qualify, you can always watch more ads tomorrow.
Prize money
Winning Game 1 puts you into a draw that gives 1,000 people a R10 airtime voucher. If you’re one of the lucky 1,000, you’ll be able to make a 10-minute call entirely for free.
Game 2 is where the real money is made. Below are the prizes on offer;
1st Prize: R5,000
2nd Prize: R2,000
3rd Prize: R1,000
4th – 50th Prize: R100 each
51st – 200th Prize: R50 each
If R5,000 isn’t enough for you, Nedbank has a way to double your prize money. If you’re a Nedbank account holder then any prize you win is automatically doubled. So the game is also an advert for opening Nedbank accounts. With us so far?
Once you win, collecting your Expand prize money is as easy as playing the game. An SMS is sent to winners’ phones, containing a voucher and the PIN needed to collect the winnings. These can be drawn from a Nedbank ATM, whether or not you have a Nedbank account.
Banking on winning?
Nedbank’s involvement has given the Expand app a new home, and plenty of new users. At launch, Expand was a web app and has now converted to an actual mobile app – making it more accessible to its target audience.
Maude Korte, Head of Commercialisation for Nedbank Retail and Business Banking said, “Our involvement with the Expand game is one of the ways in which we’re harnessing the power of digital to deliver on our promise to help South Africans see money differently in this case, that money can be both rewarding and fun.