A look back at some of our favourite Karri moments of 2026 so far

The first six months of 2026 have given us plenty to be grateful for.
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Some of the biggest moments came with impressive numbers attached. Others were found in a message from a parent, a child using their Karri Card independently for the first time, or a school team finding a simpler way to get something done.
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Together, they tell a much bigger story about the schools, parents and learners we get to work with every day.
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Here are a few Karri moments from 2026 that have stood out for us.

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‍School communities showed what’s possible

Slipper Day is always a special one on the Karri calendar, and this year South African school communities once again got behind Reach For A Dream in a big way.
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Together, participating schools helped raise R1.9 million in 2026, up from R1.3 million in 2025. 
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That number matters. But behind it are thousands of individual contributions from schools, Parents and learners choosing to support something bigger than themselves.
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A special congratulations goes to SAHETI School and Crawford Sandton, who were recognised as the schools that raised the most funds this year. 

To everyone who bought slippers, shared the campaign, encouraged their school community to take part or helped behind the scenes: thank you.

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Spending, winning and giving back

Our Spend.Win.Give campaign brought a little extra excitement to Karri Card spending this year, while creating an opportunity to give back at the same time.
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We’ve loved celebrating our 2026 winners and seeing the response from participating families. 

Each winner has their own story, so we won’t retell them all here. You can catch up on their individual Spend.Win.Give stories on the Karri blog.

Explore our Spend.Win.Give winner stories

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Parents gave us plenty to think about

Earlier this year, we asked Parents to tell us what they think.

And they did.

Our latest Parent Survey gave us valuable insight into everything from the Karri experience to the way families think about school payments and their children’s financial independence.

Among the headline results, Karri received a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 84, with 87% of respondents classified as promoters. We also found that 75% of Parents would pay school fees through the Karri App if their school offered the option. 

Another result we were particularly pleased to see? 88.8% of Parents said Karri sends “just the right amount” of notifications, while fast digital payments emerged as their favourite Karri feature. 

There is much more behind those numbers, and we’ll be unpacking the findings separately.

For us, the most important part is what we do with the feedback. It helps us understand what is working, where there is room to improve and what
South African families genuinely need from the payment tools they use.

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Read the 2026 Karri Parent Survey findings

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Then there are the Karri Card moments you can’t put on a graph

Some of our favourite feedback this year has been wonderfully simple.

“Mom, please top up my Karri Card.”

“The smile on my child’s face when he got to use the card and pay by himself was unforgettable.”

“Please put it on my Karri Card, mom. I’m saving.”

These might sound like small moments, but they capture something important about the Karri Card: giving children a little more independence while Parents keep the control and oversight they need. 

It’s one thing to talk about spending limits, instant top-ups and parental controls. It’s another to hear how those tools become part of everyday family life. The Karri Card is designed around that balance between independence for children and peace of mind for Parents. 

And we’d love to hear more of those stories.

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More than 2,000 reasons to say thank you

There’s one final number from the first half of the year that means a great deal to us.

So far in 2026, Karri has received more than 2,000 five-star ratings from Parents. 

Every rating represents someone taking a moment out of their day to tell us that Karri made something a little easier.

We don’t take that for granted.

Karri exists to make school payments simpler, safer and smarter for Schools, Parents and students. Whether that means helping a school manage its collections more easily, giving a Parent a quicker way to pay or helping a child take their first steps towards managing their own spending, the everyday experience matters. 

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There’s still more to come

The year may be moving quickly, but there has already been plenty worth celebrating.

From meaningful fundraising and valuable Parent feedback to proud Karri Card moments and simpler ways of working for school teams, each one has played a part in shaping our 2026 story.

And we’re not done yet.

As we head into the final months of the year, we’re looking forward to more moments shared with the Schools, Parents and learners who make up the Karri community.

Thank you for being part of the journey.

The Karri Team

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