‘I'll have a T-shirt, tekkies and a transmission account, thank you'

We all know Dunns as a place for clothes, shoes and other accessories, but imagine being able to put a bank account in your basket before you pay for your goods at the till.

Well, that's now a reality and anyone who has an ID or a passport with a valid work permit can open a bank account at any of the nearly 300 Dunns stores in SA, without the need for proof of residence or income.

A problem that many South Africans face is that they cannot get a bank account because they live in rural areas or in townships and they cannot give proper proof of residence. One bank, however, is bringing proper, full-function bank accounts to many South Africans, without the need to have mountains of forms to fill out.

WIZZIT, a division of the South African Bank of Athens Limited, has set up a system that makes it quick and easy to open a bank account. Hence, customers can now walk out of a Dunns store with their purchases and a bank account – without having spent hours in queues at one of the major banks.

The bank is a virtual cell-phone-based bank that gives you all the features that you would expect from a fully functional bank account.

“You can pay money into other bank accounts, buy prepaid airtime, buy prepaid electricity, have debit orders loaded onto your account or even check your balance - and all of this from your cell-phone,” says Brian Richardson, the bank's MD.

If you're worried about bank fees eating your money, don't be.  The bank says it has you covered and doesn't charge monthly service fees and you are also not required to have a minimum balance – so every cent in that bank account is yours.  You just pay for the transactions that you do on your account.  It claims to give its customers real pay-as-you-go banking.

“For R39,99 you get a starter pack, which includes a WIZZIT Maestro card, which you can use at any ATM to draw cash or swipe at a till-point to pay for your purchases,” Richardson says.

“Also included is all the documentation you need to get your bank account up and running.  All you need to do is bring your ID document to your local Dunns store and in a couple minutes you'll be up and running with your very own bank account,” he adds.

The new concept is all about making access to banking so much easier and cheaper for the majority of South Africans.

“We know how difficult it is for people in rural areas or people who do not have proper residential addresses to open bank accounts,” says Ray Lange, operations director of Dunns.

He says that having a bank account in today's society is vital, not only to keep one's money safe and reduce the amount one has to carry, but also to allow you to do more with your money.