You can download the Bank Zero App on the Google Play store and iOS App store or via ‘Get Your App’ on our website.
Note: while we are still in Beta, you can only be added via a special link. Let us know by adding your name to the Waiting List on our website (under Contact Us).
Simply and easily!
The ONLY documents you need to have ready are:
To start your registration process you need a South African cell number and a smartphone (either iOS or Android) with a camera. For best results when we record your biometrics, use a quiet, well-lit space.
Our App does an automatic risk assessment after you have registered. This might temporarily cause your account to be frozen while we do a quick check. While busy with this check, you will unfortunately not be able to access your accounts on your canvas, do any transactions from them or change your personal details.
Tap ‘Who Am I’ icon in top left corner > Select ‘My FICA Documents’ > Look for the message shown in a red bar under the failed FICA document(s) and upload new documents.
The good news is that accounts can be opened for people of ANY age and you have full control of your account and also have your own App access.
If under 16, you cannot kickstart the process yourself and must be invited by a parent or legal guardian. To do this, your parent or legal guardian needs to create an invite for you on their Bank Zero App by providing your SA ID number and also uploading proof of your ID (birth certificate or passport). No other documents are required.
By inviting you, they confirm to us that they are the parent or legal guardian, that you live with them and that they are responsible for any tax implications arising from accounts opened by you.
They kickstart this process by tapping the grey tile with a ‘+’ on your canvas. Then tap ‘Add child’. Complete the required details and then tap ‘Invite’.
To protect you from spam, you will not receive a physical invite. We require them to guide you to download and start the App. The info they provided above will already be displayed and you will just complete your registration (which can be done with or without their help).
Note though: you would need a unique cell number to start the registration, as you cannot share their cell number.
If you are aged 16 and above, you will need to register your own account with Bank Zero. For that you need proof of ID (ID smart card, ID book, Passport or Driving Licence if over 18), a cell number and proof of address (typically that of your parent or legal guardian with an affidavit that you live with them).
To add a new Pty (Ltd) business account, tap the grey empty tile with a ‘+’. Select ‘Add new business’ > Select business type – ‘Pty (Ltd)’ and complete the required business info.
Each account can be personalised with your choice of name and image/logo. The image and name chosen here will be the account tile image and name displayed on your canvas and can be changed at any time and as many times as you want.
You are not forced to take a card, although we would recommend it. If you do take a card, it can be personalised fully with your chosen words and image. Note, once ordered, the card picture is sent through immediately and cannot be changed without re-ordering a new card. Choose a card PIN you will remember. Your card PIN cannot be changed once chosen as it is manufactured into your card.
Some guidelines:
Select an existing Bank Zero account to fund your new account from and the amount to be transferred. For this first transfer you cannot use another bank’s account.
Provide named and cell numbers of all directors (as listed at CIPC), all shareholders and also all ultimate beneficial owners with 25% or more ownership. (See question on definition of these terms.)
Set up your authorisation chain now – or if you don’t have time now, set it up later under Account Settings.
Once you have confirmed the details, the business account tile will immediately appear on your canvas, but the money transferred into that account won’t show until all individuals and the business itself has been FICA’d. Only then will the business account be opened for transacting.
Please watch out for a very important email once you have added the business – it will request a few important documents from you. This includes proof that the business exists (Any CIPC document that contains complete company info including name, reg number, address, directors – e.g. annual CIPC return, CM1, CM2, CoR 14.3, CoR30, etc).
To make life easy for you, we have pre-populated most docs for you: the resolution for the mandated official(s), the ownership/control structure template, and a proof of address affidavit if this business does not own the property.
As the mandated official adding the business, you will receive updates on which tasks are still outstanding, as well as which individuals’ FICA is still outstanding.
See ‘Getting Started’ under the Business Banking section of our website for more info.
To add a new CC business account, tap the grey empty tile with a ‘+’. Select ‘Add new business’ > Select business type – ‘CC’ and complete the required business info.
Each account can be personalised with your choice of name and image/logo. The image and name chosen here will be the account tile image and name displayed on your canvas and can be changed at any time and as many times as you want.
You are not forced to take a card, although we would recommend it. If you do take a card, it can be personalised fully with your chosen words and image. Note, once ordered, the card picture is sent through immediately and cannot be changed without re-ordering a new card. Choose a card PIN you will remember. Your card PIN cannot be changed once chosen as it is manufactured into your card.
Some guidelines:
Select an existing Bank Zero account to fund your new account from and the amount to be transferred. For this first transfer you cannot use another bank’s account.
Provide named and cell numbers of all members (as listed at CIPC) and also all ultimate beneficial owners with 25% or more ownership. (See question on definition of these terms.)
Set up your authorisation chain now – or if you don’t have time now, set it up later under Account Settings.
Once you have confirmed the details, the business account tile will immediately appear on your canvas, but the money transferred into that account won’t show until all individuals and the business itself has been FICA’d. Only then will the business account be opened for transacting.
Please watch out for a very important email once you have added the business – it will request a few important documents from you. This includes proof that the business exists (Any CIPC document that contains complete company info including name, CC number, address and members – e.g. CK1 or CK2 forms.)
To make life easy for you, we have pre-populated most docs for you: the resolution for the mandated official(s), the ownership/control structure template, and a proof of address affidavit if this business does not own the property.
As the mandated official adding the business, you will receive updates on which tasks are still outstanding, as well as which individuals’ FICA is still outstanding.
To add a new sole owner business account, tap the grey empty tile with a ‘+’. Select ‘Add new business’ > Select business type – ‘Sole Owner’ and complete the required business info.
Select an existing Bank Zero account to fund your new account from and the amount to be transferred. For this first transfer you cannot use another bank’s account.
Each account can be personalised with your choice of name and image/logo. The image and name chosen here will be the account tile image and name displayed on your canvas and can be changed at any time and as many times as you want.
You are not forced to take a card, although we would recommend it. If you do take a card, it can be personalised fully with your chosen words and image. Note, once ordered, the card picture is sent through immediately and cannot be changed without re-ordering a new card. Choose a card PIN you will remember. Your card PIN cannot be changed once chosen as it is manufactured into your card
Directors refer to individuals that are formally registered against the business at CIPC.
Ownership includes all legal owners and shareholders of the business. The shareholders could be individuals or businesses (including trusts).
Ultimate beneficial ownership refers to all the individuals that ultimately own the business and/or benefit financially from it. We typically require you to list only beneficial owners with more than 25% ownership (in the form of voting rights and/or shareholding and/or financial benefits). A business cannot be an ultimate beneficial owner.
A mandated official does not have to be an owner, but could be. They are nominated by the business to open a business profile at Bank Zero and provide info on owners, directors, authorisers, etc. Mandated officials can make payments and sign on behalf of the business. We require a signed business resolution to confirm the appointment of mandated officials.
Relationship bankers are individuals you know and who you choose to assist with banking activities. They can load beneficiaries and transactions, while you then still do final approvals.
Relationship bankers added to an account will also automatically be friended to that same account so that they can view the account balance and account activity. (See separate answer on what it means to be friended to an account.)
If you loaded relationship bankers against a personal account, then you approve all their transactions.
If you loaded relationship bankers against a business account, then their transactions are approved as per the authorisation chain you have set up for that account. Note: A relationship banker can also be in the authorisation chain for that account.
To add a relationship banker, tap on the relevant account tile menu and select ‘Settings’. Under the heading Relationship Banking tap on the grey ‘+’ tile. Complete required info and remember to tap ‘Finish’ to save these account changes.
Do the same to edit or remove a relationship banker from an account.
An authorisation chain can be set up for any business check account you have.
You add / manage / delete authorisers on the App’s Authorisation Chain screen (accessed from the tile menu for that business account tile) provided there are no pending transactions. Add by dragging individuals from the top ribbon of owners / officials you have previously loaded, or from the bottom relationship banker blocks. Delete by tapping on the individual’s tile in the relevant authorisation level and dragging it to the bin.
If the individual is not loaded on the top ribbon, first add them by selecting the Owners / officials from the tile menu for that business account tile.
Authorisers in this chain are in place to approve / reject any Pay, Buy, Send Money & QR Pay transaction previously loaded by your Mandated Official/s for your business account. They cannot authorise any card transactions (whether online or at a store) or take money from the business account but they can:
– see the account on their canvas
– view account activity & balance
– view authorisation chain
– authorise payments and purchases
Your authorisation chain can consist of up to 3 levels. Each level set with a with a minimum amount that requires authorisation by said level. Any transaction below the set minimum amount of your lowest level will automatically be approved and doesn’t need to pass through the authorisation chain. You can add an authoriser with a zero-rand value to allow authorization of all relevant transactions. Transactions exceeding a level’s set amount will have to be pre-approved by all levels below before reaching the stage where the appropriate level can make the final approval and all levels will be notified of a payment irrespective of the amount. A transaction will only be released once it has been approved by an authoriser on the appropriate level. Transactions can be rejected by any level on your authorisation chain.
You can create your business account authorisation chain the by tapping the account tile menu in the bottom right of the account tile > Select ‘Authorisation chain’ > Drag the authoriser from owners & officials and drop them in the relevant level. Remember to set approval limits to the different levels of authorisation and tap ‘Finish’ to save changes.
All check accounts at Bank Zero will always have zero monthly fees, and zero fees for all transactions and most activities – as per our pricing guide.
The once-off cost of opening a check account is zero for the first check account. You can open unlimited additional check accounts on your profile but will be charged a once off fee of R100 to open an account. Thereafter the same zero monthly fees and zero fees for all transactions and most activities apply.
To open additional check accounts, tap the empty tile with a ‘+’. Select ‘Add new account’ > Select the legal entity you want the new account for > Select account type ‘Check’ then tap ‘Add’. While adding the account, you will need to transfer a minimum of R200 from an existing account to fund the new account.
Each new account can be personalised with your choice of name and image. The image chosen here will be the account tile image displayed on your canvas and can be changed at any time.
You can also choose whether you want a card or not on this additional account. If you have chosen to have a card, you can personalise your card details and card picture to whatever you like. Note, once ordered, the card picture is sent through immediately and cannot be changed without re-ordering a new card.
Choose a card PIN you will remember. Your card PIN cannot be changed once chosen as it is manufactured into your card. Remember to tap ‘Confirm’ if you are happy with the new account information shown on the final screen.
You will receive confirmation of a new account being successfully added and can view your account details immediately. This account tile will now appear on your canvas.
Savings accounts at Bank Zero are free to open and an unlimited number of new savings accounts can be opened at no cost.
To open additional savings accounts, tap the empty tile with a ‘+’. Select ‘Add new account’ > Select the legal entity you want the new account for > Select account type ‘Savings’ then tap ‘Add’.
Each new account can be personalised with your choice of name and image. The image chosen here will be the account tile image displayed on your canvas and can be changed at any time.
Specify your savings goal amount and fund this account from an existing account. Tap ‘Confirm’ if you are happy with the T&C and the new account information shown.
You will receive confirmation of a new account being successfully added and can view your account details immediately. This account tile will now appear on your canvas.
Notice accounts at Bank Zero are free to open and an unlimited number of new notice accounts can be opened at no cost.
To open additional notice accounts, tap the empty tile with a ‘+’. Select ‘Add new account’ > Select the legal entity you want the new account for > Select account type ‘Notice’ (you can choose between 7/32 / 45 days’ notice) then tap ‘Add’.
Each new account can be personalised with your choice of name and image. The image chosen here will be the account tile image displayed on your canvas and can be changed at any time.
Specify your savings goal amount and fund this account from an existing account. Tap ‘Confirm’ if you are happy with the T&C and the new account information shown.
You will receive confirmation of a new account being successfully added and can view your account details immediately. This account tile will now appear on your canvas.
Bank Zero Mutual Bank (MB0001). Authorised financial service provider (FSP No: 50870)