Standard Bank seals deal with South Africa’s largest retailer

Standard Bank has partnered with South Africa’s largest retailer to offer its clients additional UCount rewards benefits at Shoprite and Checkers stores, as well as via Sixty60. 

UCount is Standard Bank’s rewards programme that allows clients to earn Rewards Points on their spend whenever they use a qualifying personal Credit, Cheque or Debit card.

Its most prominent partnership is currently with Caltex/Astron Energy, which enables clients to get up to R10 back in reward points per litre of fuel. 

In a move to ease financial pressures and bring more value to customers, Standard Bank has partnered with South Africa’s largest retailer, the Shoprite Checkers Group, to help households stretch their grocery budgets. 

This collaboration boosts UCount Rewards benefits and will allow customers to redeem Rewards Points for groceries and other products both in-store and online.

“This partnership unlocks powerful synergies between Africa’s largest bank and Africa’s most extensive retail network,” Standard Bank’s chief executive for personal and private banking, Funeka Montjane, said. 

The partnership between Standard Bank and Shoprite Checkers leverages the retailer’s network of over 3,000 stores and digital platforms like Sixty60 to deliver personalised rewards. 

Montjane said that this partnership with brands like Checkers, Checkers Hyper, and Shoprite tailors rewards to South Africans’ diverse needs and pockets. 

From April, Standard Bank UCount Rewards members will receive the following benefits on every product –

• Up to 30% back in Rewards Points in-store at Shoprite and Checkers.
• Up to 40% back in Rewards Points from Sixty60 
• Flexibility to redeem Rewards Points both in-store and online.

“We focused on what truly matters to our customers and aligned the UCount Shoprite Checkers rewards with their daily needs to ensure meaningful value with every swipe.”

“By combining Standard Bank’s data insights with Shoprite Checkers’ retail expertise, we’ve created a seamless and innovative rewards experience that drives targeted behaviour shifts.”

This partnership is also intended to have clear benefits for Shoprite, with Montjane explaining that it aims to increase Standard Bank clients’ transaction volumes at Shoprite’s stores.

Standard Bank’s partnership with Shoprite comes on the same day that FNB expands its collaboration with Pick n Pay to a full retail partnership. 

FNB’s collaboration with Pick n Pay means that customers can no longer earn eBucks at Checkers stores. 

From 1 April 2025, the bank’s retail and commercial customers will now all earn up to 30% of their spend back in eBucks when using Pick n Pay’s on-demand delivery service, asap!.

In addition, the bank’s customers will earn up to 20% back on all items when shopping in-store at Pick n Pay. 

This follows the successful launch of FNB and Pick n Pay’s partnership in 2024 when the two companies teamed up to offer customers ‘99c bread’ rewards. 

From 1 November 2024, qualifying FNB Private Banking eBucks customers could also earn up to 30% of their spend back in eBucks when using Pick n Pay’s asap! and up to 20% back on all items purchased in-store.

FNB revealed that the early stages of this partnership reflected a strong 20% increase in activity on Pick n Pay Clothing and Pick n Pay’s asap!.