Choose wisely and get the bank account that meets your needs

Regarding the Penny Pinchers column on a savings account not paying interest, Absa has products to suit a variety of customers.

The needs are divided into three categories: transactional, transactional-savings and pure savings accounts.

Our transactional accounts provide a full range of functionality such as debit orders, stop orders, Internet banking, telephone banking and cheques. Interest on credit balances is not paid. Our transactional-savings accounts have reduced functionality in comparison with our transactional accounts, but operate at a lower cost. They generally earn low rates of interest. Our pure savings accounts have limited transactional functionality and are designed to be "fee-free", and high interest rates are paid for the client's savings behaviour.

In your instance, our client received one of our transactional savings accounts, the Absa Flexi account. When our client opened it in April 2006, the Flexi account was known as the Absa FlexiSave Account. We have since changed the name to avoid the savings connotation with what is in essence a transactional account.

If our customer was incorrectly advised on product choice, that is something we will take up with them. But what was on offer then, and still is today, is our Money Builder savings account. This is a pure savings account that has paid market-leading interest rates since its launch in 2005. It is also fee-free, provided it is used in accordance with its design.

We acknowledge our responsibility in ensuring our best endeavours are applied in providing the right products and services to our customers. But it remains the responsibility of all South Africans to ensure they are banking according to their needs.

This instance is instructive as our customer would have banked for free (transactionally) with Absa and received a competitive interest rate on the investment made if advantage had been taken of our rebate banking offers for senior clients. - Keith McIvor, managing executive for core product and pricing at Absa

CONFLATION TARGETING

THE article on annuity options for senior citizens in Money on July 18 was a clear summary of the features and limitations of life annuities and living annuities.

But as I looked at the comparison table, my eye kept returning to the top line, which had the name of each as the heading for the column. It reminded me how ridiculous it is to name two such investment products, both important but different in nature, with labels that resemble each other so closely.

You would do us all a favour by getting one of the labels changed to avoid confusion. I'm pretty sure that if you made a strong point about this to the industry, they'd listen. - Jim McNamara, Pinelands

KIYOSAKI HELPED ME TO SUCCESS

THE Business Times articles on self-help business books such as Robert Kiyosaki's are clearly written by a man who never read Kiyosaki's books cover to cover.

He comments that Kiyosaki writes "suspiciously" many books for a man supposed to be "retired". If you read Kiyosaki's books, you will find that his view of retirement is not of stopping work but rather marking the day your passive (investment) income starts covering all your monthly expenses.

Kiyosaki says work makes you poor. When an opportunity comes along and you have to meet someone with an excellent investment, can you meet him or are you too busy at work?

The writer is wrong about Kiyosaki and his readers. Do we have to believe a person whose sole purpose in life is to find fault with successful people? Rich Dad Poor Dad changed my life and put me on course to become a successful part-time investor. - Tommy Stern, Centurion