Absa's payment reversal process lacks urgency, sensitivity and protects ****mers more than clients.

I am a young student, who worked hard to save funds to ensure that I secure a place to rent for as I pursue my studies in Cape Town. We all know the housing and property crisis in the area and so I had been searching for a while. I came across what seemed like a reputable property company at the time, completed an application, which was approved, and signed a lease, making my deposit payment on the same day (30 December). Immediately after making this payment, suspicious behaviour from the agent and on the company website made me take the quick action of calling the Absa ***** department to express my suspicions and to request assistance on how to reverse the payment as it was not immediate. Absa's competitors like FNB allow this process to occur seamlessly and understand the urgency of such situations. Absa consultants, on the other hand, not only focused on the burden of proof for my suspicions being on me but also did not match the urgency with which I did this. Following that, I was told that the payment reversal process, despite my contacting Absa within 2 hours of the payment to a Capitec Bank Account, will take 5-7 days to get a mere answer/response from anyone and a further 21 days for complete resolution. What is the point of having a payment reversal process if it gives the ****mer ample time to access the funds and move them? What is then the difference between a normal payment and an immediate payment, if there is no way to swiftly reverse payments made? I did my due diligence and exercised patience with the agents who were lackadaisical about my suspicion and submitted the request anyway. Absa did not handle this with any urgency and I checked in the next morning, 31 December and again on the 2nd of January, receiving the same tone from the agents who told me the case had not been looked at. When I, an individual, was able to act promptly to prevent the financial loss of MY money, why did Absa fail to match my urgency? But perhaps more concerning, why do Absa's processes protect the recipient (a ****mer) more than their client, who is preventing a loss of their own funds with such an unhelpful and illogical turn-around time? Since a large burden of proof was on me to build a case and prove that this was a ****mer, I have since then received confirmation that this was, in fact, a property ****, and have reported the case to Absa *****, who again, have a non-urgent turn around time. I have sent an impassioned plea to Absa Disputes and the CEO, having to bear my vulnerabilities and circumstances as a young, black woman and student in a city that is not home. I had to detail the financial and social risk of being unhoused that this situation has placed me when I had taken the appropriate precaution with a sense of urgency to prevent this but was disappointed by Absa despite the long, generational relationship that myself and my family have had with them as clients. I should not have to do this for Absa to understand the urgency of a suspicious transaction and a request to reverse payment and have control of my own funds. The sad thing is that despite this, I have had no communication from Absa Disputes or even a call from anyone at Absa, which is very disappointing that a bank that prides itself in having stringent security matters that protect its clients lacks basic customer care.

Again I ask, what is the point of a normal payment if it possesses the same financial and social risks as an immediate payment? And what is the purpose of the ***** line and customer care lines if they do not treat such matters with urgency?

I am at my wit's ends and likely to be unhoused and it seems Absa does not care. I am sitting with three different references, most generated by what seems to be an automated system but no recourse or urgency from Absa Banking.

I am extremely disappointed as all the reasons I seemed to take pride in banking with Absa, seem to be a myth.