The business model is based on partner companies allocating free eBucks to their customers to reward them for their loyalty. These customers then have a variety of ways to 'spend' their free eBucks on a wide range of products and services, thereby experiencing the reward of getting 'stuff for free'. 

Lezanne Human, CEO of eBucks, says: We constantly re-evaluate our programme and wanted to address the fact that some of our active members have low balances. In response we adopted a model that allows members to participate in an exciting auction process where they need skill to acquire the product, yet are guaranteed that they will not be drawn into paying a higher and higher price.

Michael Jordaan, CEO of FNB, says: eBucks has allocated over R600m worth of eBucks to its members since its launch nearly six years ago and has a very high level of member activity, with over 70% of allocated eBucks being spent monthly. As members use their eBucks, they traditionally look for ways to accelerate the earning of more eBucks, which in turn drives partner profitability.

This initiative has been timed to leverage the accelerated e-commerce growth currently taking place in SA, as well as the uptake of online auctions internationally.