POINTS YOU CAN COUNT ON

Just when you felt loyalty cards were a lot of hokum, Standard Bank comes up with UCount — a rewards system that really allows customers to save money

Here is the thing about loyalty cards, they can be cumbersome. Accumulating too many of them will make your wallet look like a rotund leather hamster and also leave you having to do quadratic equations just to try and figure out what your points situation is. Then, once you’ve figured out the nuclear physics that is points accrual, it turns out that the rewards are not even all that great. Spending thousands of rands ends up entitling you to a free stick of gum and a Coke. The whole thing can make you wonder what the point of it all is and leave you wanting to ignore the whole thing all together.

Mercifully, Standard Bank’s UCount rewards system doesn’t fall into that category. With coronavirus already having an adverse effect on consumers’ ability to spend money, Standard Bank’s UCount rewards system is well poised to do exactly what one needs from a loyalty card: save you money.

“We know based on surveys that Retail POS [point of sale] is about to decrease between 10% to 30% in the next few months. As a result we will see decreased consumer spending , but we also know some customers will see reduced income. To assist customers with cash flow, we have reduced the minimum amount customers can now redeem into their PureSave accounts to 2,000 Rewards Points (R200). This will help members to have some cash to be able to buy those essential items,” said Tracey Clark from Standard Bank.

In order to further assist people through this trying time, UCount members can also get their essential items when they redeem their Rewards Points for Checkers, Shoprite and Woolworths vouchers on the UCount Rewards online Mall and still redeem their rewards points at Makro for essential items. Furthermore, until June 15, customers will be able to qualify for top-tier rewards without spending the usual R20,000 required to qualify. What is even better is you don’t need a physical rewards card to start earning points.

So how does UCount work? Well, it’s actually pretty simple, you do it all online so there is no need to worry about social distancing. Then once you are verified, you’re good to go. From there the question becomes, what’s in it for you, and fortunately creating fiscal breathing room is what this programme was made to do. For example, how often have many of us got to the petrol station late in the month and had to make some tactical decisions based on the amount of petrol you needed versus the amount of money you had? Well, UCount allows its users to earn up to R5 per litre back in reward points when refuelling at Caltex. That kind of money can make all the difference. Members also get rewarded for every transaction and get bonus value if they decide to do their shopping at places like Checkers, Checkers Hyper, Woolworths and Pick n Pay.

It seems that instead of just throwing a bunch of meaningless “rewards” at its customer base, Standard Bank UCount is genuinely interested in providing benefits that can be used to alleviate the increasing economic stress we all find ourselves under these days, especially during this pandemic. All that while being convenient. Wow, we may just have to start adjusting some of our stereotypes about banks. — Yolisa Mkele