Cash deposits made easy and all things car jamming

That’s provided you’re depositing larger amounts - R1,200 or more. For smaller amounts, your bank’s ATM deposit fee will probably be less than the supermarket’s standard R19.95 fee.

The Shoprite group has followed Pick n Pay in making it possible for customers to deposit cash directly into their own bank accounts at till points of its Shoprite, Checkers, and USave stores.

All you need is your card and the cash, plus a transaction fee of R19.95 - the identical amount Pick n Pay charges for the service at its grocery, clothing, and Boxer stores.

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It’s a safer and more convenient cash deposit option than using a bank ATM - especially for those who get paid in cash and live in rural areas where ATMs are relatively scarce.

Shoprite caps its till deposit amount at R3,000, while PnP allows customers to deposit up to R5,000 cash, still for that flat fee of R19.95.

I asked Pick n Pay how shoppers had responded to the service offering and what their average deposit amount is.

“Customers are absolutely loving it,” I was told. “We have seen a jump of 159% in the number of deposits from level 5 lockdown to level 1.”

The average deposit amount in the last financial year was R1,600, so clearly most have cottoned on to the fee issue.

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Sound interesting? Well, take a listen: 

You pressed the lock button on your remote, but is your car really locked?

Are you in the habit of locking your car by pressing a button on your remote while walking away from your car parked at a shopping mall?

Criminals use signal-blocking technology to effectively block a vehicle from locking properly - as you press that button on your remote, so they press theirs and the result is your car isn’t locked and they can help themselves to what you have stashed in your boot - often a laptop.


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It’s not a new scam, but it’s still very prevalent, and here’s the thing: your insurer may well not approve your claim for what was stolen out of your boot.

Most motor insurance policies have an exclusion clause stating there is no cover if there is no evidence of a break-in to your vehicle.

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In a case study included in the Ombudsman for Short-Term Insurance’s annual report for 2020 released this week, a man claimed on his insurance policy for a bag containing travel documents and electronic items which was stolen from his car boot.

The insurer rejected the claim because there was no forced entry into the vehicle.

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He said he had locked the car with his remote and produced CCTV footage showing that his bag was indeed stolen from his car’s boot. OSTI’s adjudicators found that the man did not negligently leave the vehicle unlocked, but rather that the cause of the loss must have been the use of this sophisticated method to gain access into the vehicle.

“It would therefore be unfair for the insurer to decline the claim for what seemed to be a genuine loss, albeit the insurer is entitled to do so in terms of its policy wording.” They felt and recommended that the insurer settle the claim. Responding, the insurer said the video footage did not show that the insured had locked the vehicle when leaving it and could not be given the benefit of doubt. “In the light of the insurer’s further representations the office found that there was no basis on which to compel the insurer to settle the claim.”

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Moral of the story: be very mindful when you press that remote - it’s your responsibly to make sure that the car is actually locked.