Absa allows credit card *****, then won't pay back the money

It has become apparent that ABSA doesn’t take credit card ***** seriously. When ABSA suspects ********** activity on a credit card, they phone that card holder. But if ABSA can’t reach said card holder, ABSA sees this as a sign that the transaction is legit and they don’t proceed to block it. Then ABSA sends an SMS to that card holder to inform him/her that ABSA could not reach him/her. In the SMS, ABSA asks the card holder to reply to the SMS with a ‘2’ if the transaction was not made by him/her and he/she wants the ***** division to phone them back. But, then ABSA ignores the request and never phones back. When the card holder then reports the *****, ABSA replies by saying that the card holder was negligent and therefore won’t repay the ****** money. This is how serious ABSA’s ***** division is about ***** prevention.

I lodged a complaint with ABSA’s ***** Division once I noticed that a combined amount of R8 463 was **********ly transacted on my credit card. After an investigation, the ***** specialist informed me that my claim was declined because ABSA did everything correctly on their side, with the implication that I was the negligent party.

This is not acceptable. ABSA allowed the ********** transactions to proceed even after they suspected it was *****. And then when ABSA sent me an SMS – 4 days after the ***** incident – ABSA never rep**** or assisted me from their side.

How can ABSA accept an unanswered phone call as a clear sign of permission from the account holder that the suspicious ********** transactions may proceed? Where in ABSA’s procedure document does it say that? Especially when sim swapping is a common crime connected to credit card *****?

ABSA’s behaviour in this regard is not only *********, but also problematic in the least. ABSA did not offer the support they claimed they have and ABSA did not do all they could to prevent the transactions from taking place. Instead, ABSA passed the buck to me.

BACKGROUND

On 6 November 2019, my cell phone’s MTN sim card was swapped without my permission or knowledge. Soon thereafter, on the same day, my cell phone number was **********ly ported to Cell C. Realising that my cell phone has lost complete connectivity, I went to MTN and Cell C on the 7th of November to have the number ported back and restored to me (I have an affidavit). Once my cell phone number was restored to me on 10 November 2019, I finally received communication from ABSA that suspicious transactions took place. When no one phoned me back, after replying to the SMS, I reported the matter to ABSA’s ***** division directly.

According to ABSA, my cell phone number was still in my possession when ABSA sent OTP’s to me. ABSA concluded that I then had access to the OTP’s, which implies that I made the transactions regarding XCOEXLI, or was negligent to have the OTPs transferred to someone else. Of course, this is not true.

EVIDENCE

Although the affidavit is dated 7 November 2019, MTN has confirmed that the first ********** sim swap was completed by 6 November at 10h11. If you compare the OTPs sent by ABSA on 6 November (which the investigator sent me afterwards), you will notice that they were sent at 13h45, 13h48 and 13h50 respectively. This means that my phone number was already compromised by the time that OTP’s were sent. This also explains why the ***** division did not get hold of me by phone when the transactions took place.

So, the claim that I still had access to my phone number when the ********** transactions took place, is simply untrue.

According to the investigator, ABSA had a lot of evidence that proves that I was negligent. When I asked to see this evidence, I was denied. As a result, I want proof from ABSA

(1) that someone from ABSA’s ***** division spoke to me over the phone (for which I want proof that the correct authentication took place) to prevent the transaction from taking place,

(2) that I approved this transaction,

(3) that ABSA proceeded to block the transaction when they could not get hold of me,

(4) that ABSA phoned me back and assisted me on the 10th of November when I rep**** to their SMS indicating that I did not approve the ********** transaction,

(5) that ABSA’s procedure policy instructs their ***** division to accept suspicious transactions as authorised by the account holder when a phone call goes unanswered,

(6) that I was negligent by sharing my PIN, password, passcode, CVV number or OTPs either by text message or email with a third party.

Until I receive the necessary evidence from ABSA, I do not accept their decision to decline my claim. I will also approach the ombudsman as well as the national credit regulator within 5 working days as of today.

I insist that ABSA re-investigate.