Is E-Bucks worth it ?

[jr54669]

Hey guys, so today I’ve seen 2 posts here about E-bucks, and I’m wondering if it’s really worth it?

I currently bank with Nedbank, which has greenbacks but it’s not so good.

So in E-bucks really worth it? And is it hard to level up ?

Thanks

Edit thanks for all the replies , I’m going to change to FNB now

 

[pergamum]

@jr54669 I find it worth it. Especially for partner bonuses like Kauai and Starbucks benefits

 

[plainjane3]

@pergamum Same, compared to other rewards it is the most decent, African bank used to have better, but they changed to the whole points system as well.

 

[rzolute]

@jr54669 I find it worth it, only debt I have is my homeloan. Still figuring out the latest changes however in the past I was doing well and bought my ps5 with ebucks. Also use the airport lounge, kauai and Starbucks.

 

[resjudicata]

@jr54669 Yes, for me.

 

[skittblue]

@jr54669 R61 000 earned in the last year.

 

[dfomin]

@skittblue WOW! I earn about R650-R850 a month. How the hell do you earn that much lol! Any tips? XD

 

[skittblue]

@dfomin Over and above what the others are saying, what helps us on the earning side is that my wife has a "joint" Fusion account with me, so all our expenses and swipes are earning ebucks on the same account. We work together to get the primary account on level 5, each month (it's actually easy) and our purchases, petrol, etc are earned on that.

It also helps that I have moved other services to the bank and earn up to 15% back on them, I thus "pay less" every month on those. It doesn't feel like a compromise to have moved things over to FNB, for example, insurance with them has been great, based on the service I have received and what I'm paying compared to my previous service providers.

From what I remember over the last year, my petrol (R8-R10 per liter on the old rewards system) was my biggest return as both of us earn at the max rate each month (car loan is with Wesbank). The new virtual card petrol boost makes it more difficult since she cannot tap to pay from a virtual card since her FNB app isn't linked to the primary earning account.

 

[lorit]

@skittblue A workaround is providing your wife with a secondary profile to log into your online banking with limited rights.

 

[skittblue]

@lorit Nice, gonna try that thanks!

 

[dfomin]

@skittblue Thanks for the response. You can add your virtual card on her samsung pay/apple pay or google wallet. Thats how i use my virtual card and get my points.

 

[resjudicata]

@skittblue She can also link your virtual card to her device wallet (Apple pay/Google pay/Samsung wallet etc). And use that for the taps

 

[junejer]

@jr54669 There's a bit of learning once a year, but I think it's worth it. On average my wife and I make about R3500 a month without spending in a weird way to achieve this. It depends a lot on which account you have. On PC, by buying groceries at Checkers, buying electricity and paying rates through Clicks, and then buying fuel at an Engen, we make about R2500 a month. The other R1000 is made up of spend-to-earn ebucks. This ignores the extra benefits from Kauai, Starbucks, and Wimpy. Let me add though, it is losing its appeal as they tighten up. Discovery is looking more appealing each year..

 

[lovealatte]

@junejer Paying rates through clicks!? I need to look into this! so paying the rates there adds to your monthly earn-able amount?

 

[californio]

@lovealatte You can pay rates on the FNB app now. Pay > Bills > Easypay / @pay

If you're on Premiere, This adds 1000pts to the total.

 

[ffriemann]

@lovealatte Yes, pay your rates and buy prepaid electricity through the Clicks app. FNB sees this as a normal transaction at Clicks which earns eBucks.

 

[junejer]

@lovealatte Yup, then you get 15% back in eBucks on level 5.

 

[wn123455]

@jr54669 Depends. I use mine to buy psn vouchers every now and then. You need to spend to earn, so it's negligible. Don't switch banks just to "earn" rewards.

My bank charges are through the roof with FNB now.

 

[resjudicata]

@jr54669 It's very behaviour driven. If you currently have the behaviour that would earn the reward, then it's worth it.

If you need to make a small change to move up a reward level, or earn more rewards, still worth it - eg use the banking app x number of times, only fill at Engen, shop at checkers to maximise earn, do some random activity on the app currently being driven by the bank like set up a budget, view my credit status etc. All these things are not costing me anything and I REALLY maximize my earn.

If you need to take on a product that would earn you more points to move up a level (if the above isn't enough) then consider if you actually need it. Funeral cover, life insurance etc are good to have if you can afford it, but if the premium is going to be more than the extra earn and you're actually going to feel the expense , then maybe think twice

Then there are some products that help you earn more points/rewards, but it's not something you would actively take up JUST for eBucks unless you have a need for said product, eg a Home Loan or Vehicle Finance.

Most of us that are earning a lot of eBucks tend to have these products to boost our points to level 5 so that our spend behaviour earns the maximum eBucks every month. It's still possible to get to level 5 without taking up products that would cost you more.

That being said, I earn on average R32k (Rands) in eBucks every year, and get another R7k or so in other benefits (Starbucks, Kauai, Slow Lounges etc). Definitely worth it for me since there's no way I spend more than R40k in fees a year LOL

 

[hazrus]

@resjudicata Yeah. I think I had to make one other change to open a fixed deposit which earned me slightly less interest (R30/month) but that bumped up my rewards by more than R30