By late October, customers will be able to open a Mzansi account at Postbank, Absa, First National Bank, Nedcor and Standard Bank.
The move will give Postbank account holders more affordable access to the participating banks' automated teller machines.
Although Postbank cannot, as yet, announce the details of the banking charges on the account, Daphne Motsepe, the managing director of Postbank, says they will be competitive.
The recently drafted Financial Sector Charter contains several commitments from banks to bring more people into the banking system, including a specific commitment to increase access to banking for people in low-income groups.
In keeping with this commitment, the participating banks have come together to provide a new form of banking on a competitive basis which is affordable, easily available and suits the needs of the consumers in the unbanked market.
This is a great example of the public and private sector working together for the good of the country. We believe the value of the initiative will be clearly seen and expect to attract other industry players, especially smaller banks, Charles Chemel, the co-ordinator of charter access initiatives at the Banking Council, said.