Since the big news last week, I’ve been doing gum body with Carbon.
I’m not sure if I’ve said up to 3 complete sentences at a go without including “oh, did you know Carbon is now a bank??”
Just saying it dey sweet me for mouth abeg.
But as I was telling everyone around me of the benefits of the account, one question I heard struck me.
“This your Carbon sef. As everything is free – 30 free funds transfers every month. Free bill payments. Free airtime. On top of that, they will now still pay interest on deposits in the account every month.
Them no go make money? Abi is it charity organization?”
If you’ve ever thought this, you are not alone. But the answer is actually quite simple. Commercial banks typically make money in one of two ways:
- Interest earned from loans issued to customers
- Service charges and fees
For #1: Providing easy access to loans… Naija banks have left the group chat. So that leaves what?
Fees. Lots of them. Other banks make a big part of their income from charging you fees on your account. Sometimes it’s for a service provided, other times based on we just wan reduce your money small today.
Carbon chose a different path. In 2016, it launched as just a simple loan app – granting instant loans without collateral to Nigerians like me & you across the country, trusting those who they would never even meet.
Today in 2020, of course Carbon is now a digital bank. Still providing instant access to affordable loans, but also committed to not drowning customers in fees, so you and I always get more value for our money.
But all of this can only happen when you transact from your Carbon account.
In the spirit of fee charging for anything that moves inside your account, there is another notorious item for banks: debit cards. You already know the normal ones – card maintenance fee, card replacement fee. But did you know that banks also earn income on every transaction you make with your debit card? Oho.
This even affects Carbon. For every transaction you do with another bank’s debit card on the app, Carbon is charged for that transaction. O wrong nau. It’s very expensive to maintain. So, to keep providing the affordable service we know and love, there’s a slight change coming.
Starting December 1st, 2020: ALL transactions done in the app using another bank’s debit card will come with a 1% transaction fee on the transaction amount. This will help Carbon cover the cost of these charges. The fee will be capped at a maximum of ₦1,500.
Of course, all transactions done from your Carbon account remain free.
So:
- If you need to repay a loan, on/before your due date, just fund your Carbon account (for free) using either the bank transfer or the USSD option in the app.
- If you want to enjoy free transfers to any bank account, just fund your Carbon account.
- If you want to earn interest every month on your money… I think you get the gist.
| Anyway – I know this one won’t be a problem for you. When you have a Carbon account, why would you even need to bother using anything else? |
| OTHER UPDATES GOING VIRTUAL Don’t waste your Black Friday vexing for any bank about why your card doesn’t work on international sites. Create a Carbon virtual dollar card and get shopping with ease. CARBON INVESTMENT CHALLENGE – DRAW #2 In case you’ve been sleeping, Carbon launched a campaign to reward people that invest money on the app. For the next one year, there will be monthly draws to give away a total of ₦60m in cash prizes. The next draw is coming up this Tuesday, December 1st at 4pm, with 46 new winners to be selected. It will be broadcasted live on Carbon’s official Facebook page. If you’re looking to sneak into the draw from the back door, do quick and invest o. 🏽♂️ |
| Create investment |