CAPITEC SUPPORTS A MORE MONEY SMART SOUTH AFRICA

Capitec is supporting this year’s Money Smart Week campaign with a focus on bank safety and information to help South Africans safeguard their money and avoid fraud.

Money Smart Week South Africa is a financial literacy campaign that aims to motivate and empower South Africans to educate themselves about their finances. Topics range from learning about savings, pension funds, insurance and retirement policies to finding out how to earn compound interest and how to avoid being scammed.

It takes place between 22 and 28 March 2021 and is an initiative of the National Consumer Financial Education Committee (NCFEC), with the overall goal of educating South Africans about how to become smarter with their money.

One of this year’s campaign ambassadors is businessman and entertainer, ProVerb, who shared his thoughts on money management and why he chose to partner with the initiative.

“I’ve made many financial mistakes, and have learnt some hard lessons.” ProVerb adds, “I realised that these are mistakes that I possibly could have avoided had I been better informed. So I’ve made it my responsibility to help stimulate the conversation. Which is why I really love this initiative.”

Money behaviour, for many, is learnt from a young age and is influenced by those around us, be it our parents, other adults or those in our community. By having easy access to credible financial information, consumers can make informed choices for their future.

ProVerb expanded on this. “What I know now, is what I wish I knew then about saving for a rainy day and planning long term – be it through property investments or making use of the financial services at my disposal. I’ve come to appreciate putting money away and letting it work for me as opposed to slaving over it and then using it all up immediately.”

Being financially savvy is not just about good money decisions, it’s also important to be aware of risks. Yes, banks have sound security measures in place to protect their customers against fraud, but criminals know this and resort to manipulative tactics to defraud bank customers.

Capitec believes that enabling consumers to build their financial capability is fundamental to improving their financial lives. Through initiatives such as Money Smart Week South Africa, consumers can learn about various topics including how to bank safely and avoid fraud.

The South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC), a non-profit organisation that was founded to assist banks and related industries to combat organised bank-related crimes, also backs this important campaign.

“Part of our strategy is to create awareness around the types of criminal activity customers are at risk of, and Money Smart Week is all about educating individuals to transact, and be safe when doing so,” said SABRIC CEO, Nischal Mewalall.

Capitec‘s Head of Forensic Services, Jimmy Sounes, explains the importance of this campaign for the bank.

“Fraud syndicates do not discriminate. They are hard at work stealing from vulnerable people. Based on research and experience at Capitec, we’ve noticed that there’s definitely been an increase in the digital fraud landscape, where more and more of our clients are targeted by vishing and smishing fraud.” Other risky activities to be mindful of include investment scams, card swapping, mule accounts and lending accounts.

Education is key! Join the dialogue about finances – it’s the first step towards financial freedom.

For more information on how you can keep your money safe from scammers when making online payments visit Capitec.

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