Can you believe Nedbank Greenbacks is almost 21 years old? Time flies when you're having fun – although the word 'fun' might be understating the many joys that our unique rewards programme offers clients. We've now given it a major update.

Greenbacks offers even more incentives to practise better money habits by introducing levels and increasing your rewards every time you reach a higher level. By adopting the right financial behaviours in your banking, spending, saving and debt use, you can progress through the levels and earn Greenbacks at a higher rate. Greenbacks membership is free for Nedbank clients with MiGoals Plus, MiGoals Premium or Private Clients Bundle accounts – although you can join Greenbacks with a pay-as-you-use account like the MiGoals account for a linkage fee of R35 a month.

Here's everything you need to know about our enhanced Greenbacks programme.

Redeem your Greenbacks for exciting rewards

First things first – the ways in which you can redeem your Greenbacks have not changed. You can still use the Greenbacks in your account to make the same transactions and take advantage of the same perks.
 

The 5 most popular ways to redeem Greenbacks:

• Transferring your Greenbacks into your MyPocket account.
• Using your Greenbacks SHOP Card to withdraw Greenbacks as cash, pay for in-store or online shopping, or buy fuel.
• Spending Greenbacks on prepaid airtime, data and electricity.
• Investing by transferring Greenbacks into a notice deposit account (JustInvest, Platinum Invest, Money Trader or Unit Trust).
• Paying for bank charges and card fees.

Except for withdrawing cash or swiping to pay with your Greenbacks SHOP Card, all these transactions can be done via the Money app or Online Banking. However, there are several more ways to redeem your Greenbacks through our digital channels. You can also:

• pay for online shopping on Avo SuperShop with Greenbacks and get additional discounts exclusive to Greenbacks members,
  
  
• donate to an affinity (WWF Nedbank Green Trust, Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, the Sports Trust or the Art and Culture Trust), or
  
  
• donate to a community (use the Money app to see a full list of beneficiaries).

So, what's changed? Understanding Greenbacks levels

The biggest change to Greenbacks is replacing packages with goals. Packages, and any competitions related to packages, no longer exist. Greenbacks now offers a tiered rewards system linked to your Nedbank transactional accounts – 4 different reward levels (plus a bonus booster level), with your level determined by the number of goals you achieve. Each level increases the rate at which you earn Greenbacks on qualifying transactions – you can earn up to 2% of your spending back in Greenbacks at the top level.

You can reach new levels by achieving more goals – 1 goal achieved puts you on level 1, 2 goals boost you to level 2, and so on. You no longer need to opt in to Greenbacks packages, as your level is now determined by your financial behaviours and the goals you've achieved. Having a Nedbank transactional account is your gateway to Greenbacks.

Greenbacks levels: 4 goals and a bonus booster goal

The Greenbacks goals cover a range of better money choices:

• Main-banked goal
  If you switch your income payments to your Nedbank transactional account and keep at least 2 active monthly debit orders on that account, you achieve 1 goal for being a 'main-banked' client.
  
  Of course, your Greenbacks rewards are just the cherry on top. The real benefit of being a main-banked Nedbank client is the saving on bank charges you can make by using our digital banking channels. Setting up debit orders also ensures that you never have to worry about making regular monthly payments on time.
  
  In addition, if you make at least 3 transactions a month that pay money out of your account using digital channels (excluding transfers between your accounts), you achieve the bonus booster goal and move up a level.

• Card swiper goal
  The card swiper goal is available exclusively to clients with a Nedbank Visa, Mastercard or American Express credit or debit card linked to Greenbacks. Swipe your card instead of paying with cash 3 or more times a month, or make card payments totalling R5,000 or more in the month, and you achieve this goal.

• Structured saver goal
  To qualify for the structured saver goal, you must have at least 1 Nedbank savings account. You must also increase your savings or investment balance by at least R3,000 over 3 consecutive months, or else maintain a balance of at least R100,000 across your entire savings portfolio each month.

• Responsible borrower goal
  This goal rewards you for paying your debt instalments on time and in full every month. To qualify, you must have 1 or more of the following: a Nedbank personal loan, home loan, vehicle loan or overdraft facility. Make all your payments in full and on time to achieve this goal.

Higher levels earn you more Greenbacks

If you achieve all 4 goals and the bonus booster goal, you'll be at level 5 – with rewards to match. For example:

• At level 5, you can earn up to 2% cashback in Greenbacks on all spending on your Greenbacks-linked Amex card, compared to 0.3% at level 1.
  
  
• There is no spending cap on rewards earned when paying with your Amex card – you keep earning Greenbacks no matter how much you spend.
  
  
• See the estimator tool on our Greenbacks page to learn more about reward levels.
  
  
• And of course, paying with any of your Greenbacks-linked Nedbank cards will score you great discounts from Nedbank partners:

• Up to 60% off on Nu Metro movie tickets and 50% off on selected refreshments.
  
  
• Cashback of 25c in Greenbacks for every litre of fuel you buy at bp when paying with your Greenbacks-linked debit or credit card.
  
  
• Greenbacks Exclusive deals on Avo SuperShop – up to 10% off the price of Apple and Samsung devices.

Exclusive flight discounts: Get up to 80% off

We've upgraded your travel perks to make getting away even more rewarding. You can now enjoy flight discounts from level 3 upwards – starting at 5% off at level 3, climbing to 10% at level 4, and reaching 30% at level 5, plus a 50% booster for even bigger savings.

We've also added FlySafair as a new airline partner and increased the maximum discount to an impressive 80%.

Your allowance now includes 6 local flights (3 return trips) and 2 international flights (1 return trip) a year.

These discounts are exclusive to you as the member – you can book for others, but they won't receive the discounted rate.

Terms and conditions apply.

Adopting better money choices brings rewards all on its own – like healthy financial management and peace of mind. These benefits are important, but also quite abstract.

Sign up for Greenbacks, and you can add the solid, concrete rewards of earning Greenbacks to spend – on so many levels.