Money talks

FNB was the first bank to offer a smartphone app — in 2011 — and it continues to produce solid digital services and add-ons for clients.

In 2016 it added the Nav (or nav>>) section to the app. The name comes from the idea of a “financial GPS” to guide users.

Initially the first Nav services focused on the home, offering instant value estimates, a property search, “pre-approved” home loans, and a home services-related business directory.

Hot on the heels of this, the Nav car section was launched to help manage car financing and annual registrations.

Last month it added nav>>money to give insight into your monthly spending habits, as well as “hints and tips on spending and saving”.

FNB is quick to point out — in the introductory message — that these do not constitute financial advice, so take them with a pinch of salt.

Once you tap into the section, you see a “Track my spend” screen that shows money in and out of your FNB account in the previous month.

You can swipe left for two more snapshot screens on this section, including “My available funds” and “My credit status”. You can also access each of these plus an FAQ section from four tiles below this.

The credit status section is particularly interesting.

It’s not a full credit report as you’d get from a credit bureau, but it does draw data from your accounts and bureau info (it doesn’t specify which) to “rate” your credit status using indicators.

These include the following: any payments you’ve fallen behind on; credit limit usage (how close you’ve come to your limits over the past 24 months); credit trend (whether your total credit usage is moving up or down); missed debit orders; savings on hand; time with FNB; and proven track record (whether you keep your accounts up to date over time).

You can click on each of these for an explanation of what goes into them. Finally, there’s an “Account in arrears” section, where you can see what you’ve fallen behind on.

Of course, none of this is information you don’t already have available to you, but it’s great to have it at a glance in a single section with the banking app you probably already use to manage your money.