You can in the UK now. An App called “Sprive” will allocate your smart shopper points directly to your mortgage bond. We have loyalty cards in South Africa, and some people really make them work. Discovery will give you a free cell phone if you use all their loyalty apps, but others think this is all smoke and mirrors.
More importantly, is paying off your bond in your best interest from and investing point of view? As with all investment decisions, it depends on you and your financial position and the need to balance tax efficiency, time horizons and personal financial goals.
Paying your bond early is tax efficient. Unless your bond is used in the production of rental income, where the interest is tax deductible. Your return is the interest rate that your bond charges you. Paying off your bond does give you a warm feeling. But some bond accounts are not very flexible when you need some cash.
Tax-free investing accounts are also very tax effective, by name. The best tax break is that you pay no capital gains tax on your tax-free portfolio proceeds. Some people discount tax-free portfolios pointing out to the R 36 000 annual investment limit and the R 500 000 maximum investment. But investment does not equal return, Ninety-One did the calculations of opening a tax-free portfolio for your child and investing R 36 000 a year. The investment will last for 14 years until the investment limit of R 500 000 is reached. Ninety-One have calculated That if your child only takes the funds at age 35, and an annual return of 8%, the funds will be worth R 4 500 000.
Tax free.
And the tax-free funds are available immediately.
Real tax efficiency comes from adding to your Retirement Annuity account (RA). The underlying balanced portfolio will give a good return with an estimated 8% annualised and capitalised. All income and capital gains within the RA are free of tax.
The big difference is the upfront discount you get when investing in your RA account. Your tax deduction is equal to your marginal rate of tax. If your marginal rate of tax is 40%, and you contribute R 100 000 to your RA account, your tax will reduce by R 40 000,
And your underlying investment continues to grow.
What is the correct answer? As noted above, it depends on you, your financial goals, your investment time horizons and your need to balance tax efficiency, investment returns, flexibility and access to your funds.
The February 2026 tax year closes in three weeks’ time. Please contact us should you wish to top up your tax efficient accounts.
Contact us if you want to discuss your financial plan and a way forward.