Thrive is our loyalty programme. It tracks a handful of good investing habits over the course of each month, turns them into Thrive Levels, and pays you back in brokerage: every level you hold is worth 10% off brokerage on Thrive stocks. Ten levels, 100% off. Below Level 3 there is a R25 monthly Thrive Fee, so that is covered here too.
NOTE: One of the ways to earn levels changes every month. This article explains how levelling works in general; your Thrive page always has the current month's challenge.
On this page:
- How do I level up just by depositing?
- What do I earn for referring a friend?
- What happens if I max out my TFSA?
- Can I earn a level by learning something?
- Why can't I complete the lesson on my second account?
- How does Donate for Good earn me a level?
- Do I earn levels for using other Easy products?
- What is this month's challenge?
How Thrive Works
Thrive is the EasyEquities loyalty programme. It watches for a set of habits that tend to make people better investors, converts them into Thrive Levels, and gives you a brokerage discount on Thrive stocks the following month in return. There are 10 levels in total, and reaching Level 3 also means you stop paying the R25 monthly Thrive Fee.
Related: How do Thrive Levels turn into a discount? · Who pays the Thrive Fee, and when? · Your Thrive page
Each level is worth 10% off brokerage on Thrive stocks the following month, and your total level at month-end sets your discount directly. Level 1 is 10% off, Level 3 is 30%, Level 5 is 50% and Level 10 is 100%.
Levels add up across the month rather than replacing each other. Referring a friend earns 3 levels, and if you also complete the Academy lecture and add a donation on a buy, that is 5 levels, not 3.
Related: Where do I check my Thrive Level? · How do I level up just by depositing? · EasyEquities Cost Profile
Everything Thrive lives on your Thrive page: your current level, what you have already earned this month, and the challenges still open to you. If the number there is not what you expected, the timing of when the page refreshes usually explains it.
Related: How do Thrive Levels turn into a discount? · What is this month's challenge? · When will my Thrive dashboard update?
Ways to Level Up
Deposit more than you withdraw in a calendar month and you earn 3 Thrive Levels, which is Level 3 on its own. Only the net matters, not the size: deposit R1, withdraw nothing, and you have qualified.
Related: What do I earn for referring a friend? · Who does not pay the fee at all? · Getting funds into your account
Share your referral link and you earn 3 Thrive Levels plus R50 in EasyMoney once your friend joins. They get a R50 deposit voucher to start with.
The one thing worth knowing up front: your reward only triggers once they have finished onboarding and made their first investment. Signing up on its own is not enough, so it is worth nudging them over that last step.
Related: How do I level up just by depositing? · Where do I check my Thrive Level? · How do I refer someone to EasyEquities?
Use your full annual tax-free contribution and you sit at Thrive Level 5, a 50% brokerage discount, for the rest of the tax year. It is the only activity that holds its level for months instead of resetting.
Related: How do Thrive Levels turn into a discount? · Do I earn levels for using other Easy products? · TFSA contribution limits
Yes. Complete the current lecture in the EasyEquities Academy and answer the questions that go with it, and you earn 1 Thrive Level. It takes about five minutes.
Thrive Education is bite-sized on purpose: short lessons across a broad range of investing topics, from the fundamentals through to the things you only start wondering about a few years in.
Related: Why can't I complete the lesson on my second account? · How does Donate for Good earn me a level? · When will my Thrive dashboard update?
Two things commonly get in the way here, and they have different fixes.
EasyAcademy identifies you by your email address, and it allows one profile per address. So if two EasyEquities accounts share an email address, only one of them can hold an EasyAcademy profile, which means only one of them can complete the lesson and earn the level.
A session left open under another profile will also stop you. Signing out of EasyEquities does not clear this one. Sign out of EasyAcademy itself using the profile button at the top right, then come back and sign in again, and it should let you in under your own profile.
Related: Can I earn a level by learning something? · What is this month's challenge? · EasyEquities Academy
When you buy, the final confirmation page gives you the option to add a donation of R5, R50 or R500 to a good cause. Add one and you earn 1 Thrive Level. The amount defaults to zero, so nothing is added unless you choose it.
Two things to watch: the option appears on buys only, not sells, and it is available from your ZAR account.
Related: Can I earn a level by learning something? · How do Thrive Levels turn into a discount? · Donate for Good
You do, in two ways, and each is worth 1 Thrive Level.
Platform Evangelist is for keeping a positive balance on two or more Easy platforms during the month, so EasyEquities plus EasyCrypto or EasyProperties, for example.
Product Commander is for using one of our products during the month: an active EasyCredit loan, an active EasyProtect policy, buying a Bundle or Basket, or using EasyFX.
Related: Who does not pay the fee at all? · What happens if I max out my TFSA? · Your different accounts on EasyEquities
Alongside the fixed activities above, one challenge rotates each month. It works the same way as everything else: complete it and it adds to your level total for the month, up to a limit set for that particular challenge.
What the challenge asks of you, and how many levels it can be worth, changes from one month to the next. The current one is always on your Thrive page rather than here.
Related: Where do I check my Thrive Level? · Can I earn a level by learning something? · When will my Thrive dashboard update?
The R25 Thrive Fee
If you finish a month below Thrive Level 3, a R25 Thrive Fee is charged for that month and deducted on the 3rd business day of the following month. Reach Level 3 and no fee is charged at all.
Level 3 is genuinely within reach: depositing R1 more than you withdraw in the month gets you there on its own.
Related: Who does not pay the fee at all? · Which account does the fee come out of? · Thrive Benefit Statement
No. R25.00 is the total, VAT included. On your transaction history it splits into two lines, R21.74 for the fee and R3.26 for the VAT, which is why the numbers there will not read as a round R25.
Related: Who pays the Thrive Fee, and when? · Which account does the fee come out of? · How do I get a report of my transaction history?
No Thrive Fee is charged if any one of these applies to you:
- You are at Thrive Level 3 or above
- You are 21 or younger
- You are 65 or older
- The account holder is a corporate body
- You have an active EasyCredit loan
- You have an active EasyProtect policy
Retirement fund accounts are also never used for the deduction.
Related: Which account does the fee come out of? · Do I earn levels for using other Easy products? · What is EasyCredit and how does it work?
The fee comes off the EasyEquities account holding the highest free cash balance, as long as that balance is more than R25. If you hold several accounts, it is the fullest one that pays, not necessarily the one you use most. Retirement fund accounts are never used.
If that account happens to be a non-ZAR account, the R25 is converted to that currency at the exchange rate at the time of the deduction and taken there. If none of your accounts holds more than R25 in free cash, a different process applies.
Related: Is VAT added on top of the R25? · Who pays the Thrive Fee, and when? · Thrive Fee Recoupment Process Explained
If Something Doesn't Go to Plan
If your account is showing a negative cash balance, if the amount does not look like R25, or if you have had notice that we may need to sell part of a holding to settle what is owed, that is a different article: Thrive Fee Recoupment Process Explained.
If your level or your discount is not showing what you expected it to, start with When will my Thrive dashboard update? instead. And for the full terms behind everything above, see the Thrive Benefit Statement.