Capitec customers
Capitec users can’t access their money AGAIN. Image: Capitec

Home » Which SA banks got the most complaints in 2023? LIST

Which SA banks got the most complaints in 2023? LIST

There is a rising number of consumers who find themselves battling with banks through the Ombud for Banking Services South Africa, you can take a wild guess who is leading the list. ALSO READ: Titanic shipwreck captured in first full-sized 3D scan – PICTURE CONSUMERS COMPLAINING VIA THE OBS South African consumers are increasingly bypassing […]

By Hennely Nel
18-05-23 13:42
in Featured
Capitec customers
Capitec users can’t access their money AGAIN. Image: Capitec

There is a rising number of consumers who find themselves battling with banks through the Ombud for Banking Services South Africa, you can take a wild guess who is leading the list.

ALSO READ: Titanic shipwreck captured in first full-sized 3D scan – PICTURE

CONSUMERS COMPLAINING VIA THE OBS

South African consumers are increasingly bypassing their banks and taking their fights to the Ombud for Banking Services South Africa (OBS), even before exhausting all the internal complaint channels their service provider offers.

According to News24, the OBS saw a 13% jump in these “premature” cases in the past year, even though queries that eventually became formal complaints decreased by 5%.

ALSO READ: LIST: Here are the cheapest big-screen TV’s in South Africa

The Ombud gives service providers 20 days to resolve the issue directly with the complainant. It’s only when banks don’t address the complaint to their customers’ satisfaction or don’t respond to the OBS within 20 days that these are converted to formal cases.

Of the 12 032 premature cases the Ombud receives, only 5 700 became formal cases.

ALSO READ: Springbok giant Eben Etzebeth dwarfed by U15 schoolboy – PICTURE

LIST OF BANKS WITH MOST COMPLAINTS

Unsurprisingly, Capitec led the pack with over 1 800 formal cases, overtaking Standard Bank, which wore the dreaded crown in 2021. FNB had the most formal cases investigated by the OBS in 2020.

However, OBS’s operations manager, Edrich Buytendorp, was quick to point out that the number of formal complaints opened per bank doesn’t mean that the service provider is the most-complained-about in the country.

“The number of files open per bank is not necessarily indicative of the service provider’s complaint handling performance, or its performance in general for that matter. Banks vary considerably in size, client profiles and product mix. These factors all impact the number of complaints made against the service provider to the OBS,” he said.

ALSO READ: Former Kaizer Chiefs official: Busted for R100m fraud

Here is a list of top South African banks with the most complaints in 2023:

  1. Capitec
  2. Nedbank
  3. Standard Bank
  4. ABSA
  5. FNB

ALSO READ: LIST: WhatsApp will stop working on these smartphones

This article was originally published by CWENGA MAQHUBELA.

Tags: Absa Capitec FNB Nedbank OBS Ombud for Banking Services South Africa South African banks South African banks with most complaints Standard Bank worst SA banks