First National Bank (FNB) has seen a 145% growth of data bundle purchases since 2012, the bank said on Monday (7 April 2014).<\/p>\n
The bank said this reflects a shift in mobile usage patterns towards data-driven smart devices.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have the advantage of selling across the entire spectrum of mobile operators which gives us an overview of buying patterns in the pre-paid mobile space,\u201d said Ravesh Ramlakan, CEO of FNB Service Provider.<\/p>\n
While airtime continues to be FNB Service Provider\u2019s strongest pre-paid seller, data bundle purchases have risen sharply over the last three years, the bank said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 2012 data bundles sales were only 6% of airtime sales. However, this figure is now at 12% which is incredible growth in a short period of time,\u201d Ramlakan said . \u201cWhile our growth in pre-paid airtime sales has also increased, it is at a steadier rate of around 15% a year.\u201d<\/p>\n
A strong increase in data bundle purchases is in line with recent research conducted by World Wide Worx for its Mobility 2014 report which states that spend on data across South Africa has doubled since 2010.<\/p>\n
FNB said that 51% of its data purchases are made by women, the majority of data, 57%, is purchased using cellphone banking, followed by online banking (26%) and the FNB App (15%).<\/p>\n
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