Wi-Fi and data have become everyday essentials in many South African households, providing connectivity to the world through entertainment, social media, and global news. For many, these offer relief from daily stress  but they’ve also fuelled a surge in household subscription costs.

Standard Bank data shows subscription spending has risen sharply, eating into disposable income. This lifestyle inflation, including growing subscription costs, can shrink disposable income and delay emergency savings, the bank says.

We spoke to Mehmood Essop, the Head of Money Management and Advisory Value Propositions at Standard Bank.