Meet Clientèle Mobile: South Africa’s latest mobile network promising cheaper data

South African financial services provider Clientèle on Thursday announced the debut of its own mobile cellular network, Clientèle Mobile.

Citing the need to offer the country’s budding mobile-enabled population with affordable internet access, the MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) will offer consumers “data and airtime at discounted rates for Clientèle Rewards members through the Clientèle App,” it noted in a press release.

Clientèle will piggy-back off Cell C’s network, which also recently signed a deal with MTN to extend its 4G LTE coverage across the country.

Users are required to purchase a SIM card to access the network, priced at R30 each. That’s a little steeper than the usual sub-R5 price of traditional SIM cards, but users do get 100MB on activation.

“Clientèle Rewards members receive an additional 100MB after the first Rewards fee payment and another 100MB after the second Rewards fee payment,” the company added.

Those rewards also include “up to 20% additional discounts on data packages and between 25% and 35% discounts on airtime” depending on the users’ reward status.

Users can also buy data packages between 50MB, and 5GB, with airtime offered at any amount too.

“The first 10 000 members who purchase and activate their SIM card by 13 December 2019, will earn Clientèle Mobile Founder Member status. This prestigious status means that Founder Members are guaranteed to always receive a minimum discount of 25% on airtime and 15% on data every time they recharge their SIM on the Clientèle App, irrespective of their Rewards status and as long as their SIM card stays active,” the company added.

At present, users on other networks can’t port their numbers across to Clientèle Mobile.

Clientèle Mobile joins other financial institutions FNB and Standard Bank that have also in recent years launched their own mobile offerings in South Africa.

Feature image: Clientèle