FAQ

Q: Why use Summit rather than a normal commercial bank?

A: Summit Financial Partners introduced Summit save in March 2019. The rationale behind Summit save was to offer employees of our clients a simple to use, open and administer savings account. Summit save offers a competitive prime linked interest rate, zero fees on account opening an account as well as zero fees for transacting, as well as a simple FICA and account opening process. The account can be opened by visiting the Summit Financial consultant at your site and therefore negates the need to visit your current bank branch in order to complete forms and submit FICA documentation

Q: How does Summit Saves interest rate work and what does compound interest mean?

A: Summit savers earn interest per annum and is accumulated monthly. Interest earned is compounded. There for you earn interest monthly on your savings contribution or contributions, and that interest is then added to your contribution monthly. Interest is accumulated monthly and is calculated on your monthly contribution as well as the interest gained each monthly. (Eg, if you have R100 and you get R1 interest in month one your month 2 interest would be calculated on the R101 for month two granted you have not contributed anything further at this point)

Q: What is the current interest rate for Summit save compared to other banks?

A: Summit save offers depositors a simple and easy access savings account. We do not offer other banking deposit products like notice and fixed deposit accounts. Our current interest rate is a prime linked rate and as such, like with the commercial and other banks, the interest rate will change as the prime rate changes.

Our comparison work has shown other banks to offer as follows:

Bank A: 1% interest of balances between R1 and R9,999. This account also attracts a R4.00 monthly fee

Bank B: Although the savings account opened through this institution is free if linked to a current account with the same bank, there are various transaction and statement fees payable. These are not comparable as Summit save does not offer transactions and emailed monthly statements are free of charge. This bank pays 2.25% interest on balances between R1 and R19,999. Summit save does not require depositors to hold a minimum balance in order to earn the prevailing interest rate.

Bank C: This account is free provided a minimum balance of R50.00 is maintained. Interest rates go up to 1.35%

Q: Why should I use Summit save rather than a stokvel

A: Our research has shown that our savings account pays a better interest rate than a stokvel and in addition to this, the depositor is the person who controls the funds that they have saved. Although we would discourage accessing the funds that you have saved prior to reaching the goal that you have set, we will not prevent you from accessing the funds should you require them.

Q: Why implement Summit save for indebted employees?

A: An emergency savings fund that grows while a consumer continues through the Debt counselling process provides the indebted employee with a pot of funds available once they have exited this solution. Many clients approach their bank as soon as they have been rehabilitated in order to request loans. This may do away with the need to obtain new credit after the process. In addition to this, an emergency savings fund to assist when the need arises is far cheaper than approaching a credit provider in order to borrow money in order to meet the immediate requirement.

Also, by instituting a savings discipline whilst servicing debt will encourage a consumer to budget correctly and consider carefully the purchases, both on credit or cash, that they make.

Q: How often can an employee access savings?

A: Summit save is not a transactional account and as such we will discourage employees who want to use it as one. Although Summit will incur charges for transactions that occur on these accounts, they will not be passed on to the savers. We will however never prevent employees from accessing their funds. To this end we are only offering a daily savings account which means instant access to funds without having to give notice or wait for a notice period to lapse.

Q: What happens to the account when the employee leaves the company?

A: If an Employee decides to leave their employer, they have two options when it comes to their Summit Save account. Option 1: the employee would inform Summit Save that they are leaving their employer, but they would like to can continue to save with summit save. Option 2: the employee can withdraw all their savings and close their account.

Q: What interest rate will be paid on the accounts?

A: Summit save passes on the full interest earned on the accounts to the depositors. This interest rate is determined by the prevailing prime lending rates as determined by the Reserve Bank. These interest rates do not change daily, they are only amended when and if the Reserve Bank amends interest rates. The interest rate on Summit save accounts will change when this interest rate changes. It is not possible to determine what interest rates will be in future

Q: How secure are the funds deposited in a Summit save account.

A: Summit Financial Partners has made use of a big 4 commercial bank in order to provide the Summit save accounts. The funds on deposit with Summit save are therefore effectively guaranteed by this big 4 commercial bank.

Another benefit of offering the savings account on this basis is that Summit save has one total balance on deposit with this bank which is the total of all underlying individual Summit save accounts. All banks offer tiered interest rates which means that the more money on deposit with the bank, the better the interest rate paid on these deposits will be. This means that although depositors have their own account, account number and receive individual monthly statements, the interest that they earn is determined by the value of deposits across all Summit save accounts

Q: Can a spouse or dependant that doesn’t work for Anglo American sign up for an account?

One can open an account for a spouse or dependant buy signing up for a savings account in your name and nominating them as your next of kin/beneficiary on the account. If you chose to open the savings in their name one would have to supply the necessary documentation in addition to their own for the spouse or dependant such as ID and proof of address for the account to be opened.