What is a black card and where does it originate from??? Well initially it started out as a rumour and a myth, think of the Illuminati or the mile high club, they haven’t been proven to be in existence but that doesn’t stop us from talking about them like they were true. In 1999 American Express decided to make this lifelong legend a reality by introducing to their wealthy customers an all black titanium card known to us all with balleritis as the “black card”. Reserved and only given out by invitation to the super rich, this card has no credit limit making it thee most elite credit card in the world with the perks to match – including travel benefits, airline and hotel upgrades, a personal banker, free access to private lounges at airports and the benefit of not having to stand in line when in the bank.
Do we have a similar offering in South Africa?? Turns out the masses have come to a unanimous agreement that we actually do… So I was out with a couple of friends of mine some weeks back, I had lost my bank card the same week and Absa had someone deliver my new bank card to me; me being me I did not pay to much attention to the new design.
Anyway fast-forward to the weekend with the boys, the drinks come and as the kool kids say, we got LIT as we hadn’t seen each other in a while. The bill comes and as always we allocate the bill based on who consumed what, none of that splitting business as some of the boys go hard on these drinks.
As the bill arrives we all get ready to swipe away… My turn comes and I follow through and the next thing you know a friend of mine goes buck wild!!!!
“OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH MY N**** IS THAT A BLACK CARD???”
Caught up in between paying my bill, the realization that the card is actually black and trying to explain to my friend that it actually isn’t a black card because I do not feel like I have a “black card” because brokeness lol.
Anyway, I’ve had similar encounters to date due to Absa’s sabotage and have seen some of my friends have similar encounters… Out of sight, it does make you feel like you somewhat in a different higher up tax bracket when one notices the “Black card”. My girlfriend once related to me a story of a girl in the club who showed her a black card that was given to her by her blesser for the night. This black card business must really be a big big deal neh???
So I decided to do a little research myself and it turns out all the local banks do actually give out different colored bank cards depending on one’s earnings or earnings potential and yes at the top of the card chain in the shiny and slim Black Card.
What’s the criteria for dishing out the black card? All major South African banks have a different earnings scales used to classify their customers, below see the earnings range different banks use to dish out this slim shinny illusive card to their clients:-
FNB
To qualify for an FNB private client card you’d need to be getting a net salary of around R32 000 a month in your banks account or earning a yearly gross salary of R750 000 or more.
ABSA
To qualify for Absa’s premium banking service which comes with the “Black Card” you would need to be earning a net Salary of R25 000 which must be the money deposited into your account monthly. Just note this isn’t the gross monthly salary, you might be earning R25 000 gross with only about R18K – R20K coming into your bank account due to tax, medical aid, UIF, and provident fund deductions. The gross yearly earnings for one to qualify for this would be around R500 000.
CAPITEC
Capitec only gives out one colour card regardless of your earnings, so if you bank with them regardless of your salary they give you a Gold card.
NEDBANK
To qualify for a Nedbank private client card you would need to be earning around R450 000 a year or more.
INVESTEC
To qualify for the Zebra card you would need to be earning around R800 000 or more.
STANDARD BANK
Instead of Black, Standard bank decided to stand out and go with a titanium card instead, to qualify for this you need to have a net salary of R25 000 or more.
**Also note that the above represents mostly premium banking services, there are other services/black cards offered to wealthy clients referred to as private clients, these individuals on average would have to earn over R1 million per annum to qualify for these services.
Me and boys call the black card the Excalibur, it gives you the illusion that you have more money than you actually do, makes you feel official, this pimped up by the fact that you allowed to skip the long lines in the bank and get to the private banking section. Then they give you a private banker that reminds you monthly that you have been a good client and you due for a credit limit extension. It gives you no real monetary benefits, all it does is helps the banks classify their clients into different earnings potentials, so they can get to your future earnings before you do. Don’t be fooled, credit is a curse and the banks aren’t set up to save you money, their objective is a monetary one and all that matters to them is the bottom line.
#MoneyMonday
#geniuslevel
