ABSA Allows Unauthorized Debit Orders Without My Consent – Serious Security Concern

Complaint: I wish to formally raise a concern about ABSA’s handling of unauthorized debit orders on my personal account. In March and April 2025, large debit orders were processed from my ABSA account — one for R3,400 and another for nearly R7,900 — without my knowledge or authorization. These deductions were initiated by a third party (MTN-related *****), and I was never contacted by ABSA to verify or confirm these transactions beforehand. As the account holder since 1977, I am alarmed that ABSA's systems would allow such transactions to go through without any approval from me. A bank that fails to secure its clients' accounts and allows external parties to deduct money without consent poses a serious risk to every account holder. While I am grateful that some of the funds were later reversed, this does not resolve the root issue: How can unauthorized debit orders be allowed in the first place? I am now being advised to change my account number — a major inconvenience — but that does not answer the bigger question: What is ABSA doing to protect customers from repeated breaches like this?

There has been no formal apology, no proactive security review, and no assurance that this will not happen again. I believe ABSA has a legal and ethical responsibility to safeguard customer funds and verify all debit order agreements. I strongly urge the bank to investigate its internal controls and provide clarity on what measures are being taken to prevent this type of ***** in the future. I expect a clear and documented response from ABSA on how they plan to rectify this situation and ensure stronger protections going forward.