Based on recent customer reviews, African Bank is described by customers as an institution where funds become inaccessible and queries stall. A recurring theme is accounts placed on hold for suspected fraud without notification, alongside debit orders taken outside agreed arrangements. Customers consistently report complaints closed by SMS without contact. Isolated praise exists for individually named branch consultants, but it does not offset the pattern of unresolved disputes and repeated follow ups.
Top Strengths:
- •Staff & Branch Experience: The strongest area, driven by customers naming individuals such as Tebogo in Sandton, Lusanda at Springs Mall, Emihle at N1 City and Grace Mathebula. Staff & Branch Experience (1.2) still suffers from offline branches, single consultant queues and staff on personal phones.
Replied to 100% of negative reviews
Reply time on negative reviews: 4h 1m
TrustIndex
3.2
Ranking
#7
in Banking
Reply Time
4h 2m
NPS Score
-74
Recommended: Unlikely
Replied to 100% of negative reviews
Reply time on negative reviews: 4h 1m
Oct '25 - Sep '26
Frequently Asked Questions About African Bank
What do customers say about African Bank?
Based on recent customer reviews, African Bank is described by customers as an institution where funds become inaccessible and queries stall. A recurring theme is accounts placed on hold for suspected fraud without notification, alongside debit orders taken outside agreed arrangements. Customers consistently report complaints closed by SMS without contact. Isolated praise exists for individually named branch consultants, but it does not offset the pattern of unresolved disputes and repeated follow ups.
What is African Bank's biggest strength?
African Bank's biggest strength, according to Hellopeter's AI analysis, is Staff & Branch Experience. The strongest area, driven by customers naming individuals such as Tebogo in Sandton, Lusanda at Springs Mall, Emihle at N1 City and Grace Mathebula. Staff & Branch Experience (1.2) still suffers from offline branches, single consultant queues and staff on personal phones.
What are the most common complaints about African Bank?
The most common complaint about African Bank, based on Hellopeter's AI analysis of recent customer reviews, is Account Access & Management. Account Access & Management (0.9) is characterised by holds placed for suspected fraud with no explanation, FICA and KYC loops where branch and call centre contradict each other, and closure requests ignored while monthly fees continue accruing.
How does African Bank compare to other Banking companies?
African Bank scores 1 out of 5 on Hellopeter's AI analysis of service quality in Banking, compared to the Banking industry average of 1.3. Their strongest theme is Branch Experience (1.2); their weakest is Transactions (0.8). The top AI-rated Banking business on Hellopeter is GoTyme Bank | Formerly TymeBank (3.1). How is the AI Score calculated? →
Is African Bank trustworthy?
African Bank has a TrustIndex of 3.2 out of 10 on Hellopeter, based on 688 reviews in the last 12 months. They reply to 100% of negative reviews, typically within 4 hours 1 min. Hellopeter has tracked African Bank across 9,744 total reviews. How is the TrustIndex calculated? →
Recent reviews (688)
Used this business recently? Share your experience to help others decide.
Used this business recently? Share your experience to help others decide.
Share Your Experience1 reviews | Active since Dec 2019
Be prepared to swim through mud
Having used various African Bank products for at least a decade due to good interest rates, I finally closed my account; the administrative management at African Bank is disastrous. Transfers in progress are stalled by a CRM person just unilaterally closing the workflow item without cause. Opening investment accounts are quite easy, but if you close one, they suddenly want a whole lot more information including wanting to take like 6 close-up photos of your face WITHOUT having a baseline photo to compare anything to (can you see the ***** possibilities??) . It is up to the client to try and manage any process proactively. Despite numerous calls, *** and complaints, I finally closed my account with the same incorrect residential address I complained about all along. They also allowed another person to open an account with my *** and next thing I got a call from their ***** department having to justify that I am the owner of that number (which they called me on!!!) I don't lose my temper often but I completely lost it recently, to my shame. I won't ever do business with them again, even if just for my heart health.
1 reviews | Active since Dec 2019
Be prepared to swim through mud
Having used various African Bank products for at least a decade due to good interest rates, I finally closed my account; the administrative management at African Bank is disastrous. Transfers in progress are stalled by a CRM person just unilaterally closing the workflow item without cause. Opening investment accounts are quite easy, but if you close one, they suddenly want a whole lot more information including wanting to take like 6 close-up photos of your face WITHOUT having a baseline photo to compare anything to (can you see the ***** possibilities??) . It is up to the client to try and manage any process proactively. Despite numerous calls, *** and complaints, I finally closed my account with the same incorrect residential address I complained about all along. They also allowed another person to open an account with my *** and next thing I got a call from their ***** department having to justify that I am the owner of that number (which they called me on!!!) I don't lose my temper often but I completely lost it recently, to my shame. I won't ever do business with them again, even if just for my heart health.
1 reviews | Active since Mar 2020
Paid up letter for settlement of the loan
I recently dealt with Smangele Malinde regarding my request to receive a clearance certificate that my loan has been fully paid. It been 3 days and I had no responses from her. This is highly frustrating and being ignored on *** is even worse. My bank payment transfer has been cleared and I do not understand why the bank is delaying sending my paid up letter. I demand this to be resolved and I will never request any further services from this bank in future
1 reviews | Active since Mar 2020
Paid up letter for settlement of the loan
I recently dealt with Smangele Malinde regarding my request to receive a clearance certificate that my loan has been fully paid. It been 3 days and I had no responses from her. This is highly frustrating and being ignored on *** is even worse. My bank payment transfer has been cleared and I do not understand why the bank is delaying sending my paid up letter. I demand this to be resolved and I will never request any further services from this bank in future
1 reviews | Active since Sept 2023
Poor service from the consultant and social media team
Day 2 of not recieving help for a fixed deposit withdrawal. Seeking a consultant to help make the withdrawal since I cant get a hold of a consultant on the line.
1 reviews | Active since Sept 2023
Poor service from the consultant and social media team
Day 2 of not recieving help for a fixed deposit withdrawal. Seeking a consultant to help make the withdrawal since I cant get a hold of a consultant on the line.
1 reviews | Active since Jul 2020
African bank and bank closing issues
Evertime you send me sms say i must update my details. I will post or complaint her. 1. I did say close accont in pass 2 years. First time mounths ago i say close account at brance . Then time later reciver msg statement not received. You nou not close the account 2. When was in brance 2026 i say close account and your people say account must be zero It was pluis. I fix minus It was pluis. 3. I did send a lot statement. Of other bank ***. You account will be closed. If not closed. I will not walk into any brances. And will not pay any fees. I will go straight to ombudsman. If i found account not close. And everything must be closed if my details online on africa bank. And you call me on appointment time
1 reviews | Active since Jul 2020
African bank and bank closing issues
Evertime you send me sms say i must update my details. I will post or complaint her. 1. I did say close accont in pass 2 years. First time mounths ago i say close account at brance . Then time later reciver msg statement not received. You nou not close the account 2. When was in brance 2026 i say close account and your people say account must be zero It was pluis. I fix minus It was pluis. 3. I did send a lot statement. Of other bank ***. You account will be closed. If not closed. I will not walk into any brances. And will not pay any fees. I will go straight to ombudsman. If i found account not close. And everything must be closed if my details online on africa bank. And you call me on appointment time
1 reviews | Active since Dec 2023
African bank does not respect their agreements
On 17 August 2026 i spoke to Aubrey from the reciveries team. We made a payment arrangement that i can pay R300 on my loan instead of the full R1436.65 amount on the 25th of August. He explained that even if the full amount R1435.65+R300 gets debited on 25 August i can log a refund request and it will be refunded. THIS WAS ON A RECORDED LINE (go listen to the call). Indeed the full amount went off and the additional R300 and Yesterday i spoke to Masego from the African bank social media team who logged the refund request. Today i get an notification that the request was declined cause "there was no arrangement". Its literally on YOUR recorded line. The call is there...yet even though it was a binding agreement you choose to go back on your word. No problem. I tried to still make a portion of the payments while my financial situation was not good. Please take this as notification that I will officially close the account you debit from because of this. Whoever it is in your team who made that decision to decline my refund, well congratulations you will not get any more money from me. You will likely get money at the end of this month (September) only cause that debicheck will make sure it goes off, but that's it...believe me on that. Thank you
1 reviews | Active since Dec 2023
African bank does not respect their agreements
On 17 August 2026 i spoke to Aubrey from the reciveries team. We made a payment arrangement that i can pay R300 on my loan instead of the full R1436.65 amount on the 25th of August. He explained that even if the full amount R1435.65+R300 gets debited on 25 August i can log a refund request and it will be refunded. THIS WAS ON A RECORDED LINE (go listen to the call). Indeed the full amount went off and the additional R300 and Yesterday i spoke to Masego from the African bank social media team who logged the refund request. Today i get an notification that the request was declined cause "there was no arrangement". Its literally on YOUR recorded line. The call is there...yet even though it was a binding agreement you choose to go back on your word. No problem. I tried to still make a portion of the payments while my financial situation was not good. Please take this as notification that I will officially close the account you debit from because of this. Whoever it is in your team who made that decision to decline my refund, well congratulations you will not get any more money from me. You will likely get money at the end of this month (September) only cause that debicheck will make sure it goes off, but that's it...believe me on that. Thank you
1 reviews | Active since Mar 2019
Inconveniences
I have an on going issue regarding an ATM withdrawal and I didn't get the money but it went out of my account. I provided the receipts that show two errors that showed at two ATMs on the day. Customer services says, I will have to wait 31 days. As you can see the time of the month, the bank isn't really working and there is no way I could get a receipt that states that I didn't get money whereas I did. I am seriously appalled by the service
1 reviews | Active since Mar 2019
Inconveniences
I have an on going issue regarding an ATM withdrawal and I didn't get the money but it went out of my account. I provided the receipts that show two errors that showed at two ATMs on the day. Customer services says, I will have to wait 31 days. As you can see the time of the month, the bank isn't really working and there is no way I could get a receipt that states that I didn't get money whereas I did. I am seriously appalled by the service
1 reviews | Active since Nov 2024
Extremely disappointing service from African Bank – Audacious Rewards redemption
I am an African Bank client and have a My World account, which includes the Audacious Rewards programme where you accumulate points that can be redeemed for vouchers or cash. I had accumulated enough points to redeem R500 in cash. On Monday, 7 September, I used the app to redeem my rewards for R500 cash. The app indicates that this should only take a few minutes, but the money was never credited to my account. Tuesday, 8 September: I contacted African Bank by phone because the R500 was still not available. I was advised accordingly, but the issue remained unresolved. Wednesday, 9 September: I called again and was told that the matter would be escalated to the relevant department. I received no feedback or call back. Thursday, 10 September: I contacted the bank again, only to discover that the redemption transaction had been reversed and my rewards points were returned. Friday, 11 September: I went into the Mall@Reds branch personally. The consultant assisted me by redeeming the points for R500 cash again and advised me that I must have done something incorrectly when using the app. Monday, 14 September: I called African Bank again because the R500 cash still had not been credited. Once again, I was told that the matter would be escalated to the relevant department. Tuesday, 15 September: I contacted the bank yet again. At this point, I still had no R500 cash, no resolution, and no meaningful feedback from African Bank. What is particularly frustrating is that this is a service that African Bank offers as part of its banking products, yet I have spent an entire week repeatedly contacting the bank and even visiting a branch, with the issue still not resolved. I am extremely disappointed with the lack of communication, follow-up and assistance. Every time I contact the bank, I am told the matter will be escalated, but nobody actually comes back to me with an explanation or resolution. I would like African Bank to urgently investigate what is wrong with the Audacious Rewards cash redemption process, credit the R500 owed to me, and provide a proper explanation as to why this has happened and why I have received such poor follow-up. As a long-standing client, I expect much better service and communication from my bank.
1 reviews | Active since Nov 2024
Extremely disappointing service from African Bank – Audacious Rewards redemption
I am an African Bank client and have a My World account, which includes the Audacious Rewards programme where you accumulate points that can be redeemed for vouchers or cash. I had accumulated enough points to redeem R500 in cash. On Monday, 7 September, I used the app to redeem my rewards for R500 cash. The app indicates that this should only take a few minutes, but the money was never credited to my account. Tuesday, 8 September: I contacted African Bank by phone because the R500 was still not available. I was advised accordingly, but the issue remained unresolved. Wednesday, 9 September: I called again and was told that the matter would be escalated to the relevant department. I received no feedback or call back. Thursday, 10 September: I contacted the bank again, only to discover that the redemption transaction had been reversed and my rewards points were returned. Friday, 11 September: I went into the Mall@Reds branch personally. The consultant assisted me by redeeming the points for R500 cash again and advised me that I must have done something incorrectly when using the app. Monday, 14 September: I called African Bank again because the R500 cash still had not been credited. Once again, I was told that the matter would be escalated to the relevant department. Tuesday, 15 September: I contacted the bank yet again. At this point, I still had no R500 cash, no resolution, and no meaningful feedback from African Bank. What is particularly frustrating is that this is a service that African Bank offers as part of its banking products, yet I have spent an entire week repeatedly contacting the bank and even visiting a branch, with the issue still not resolved. I am extremely disappointed with the lack of communication, follow-up and assistance. Every time I contact the bank, I am told the matter will be escalated, but nobody actually comes back to me with an explanation or resolution. I would like African Bank to urgently investigate what is wrong with the Audacious Rewards cash redemption process, credit the R500 owed to me, and provide a proper explanation as to why this has happened and why I have received such poor follow-up. As a long-standing client, I expect much better service and communication from my bank.
1 reviews | Active since Dec 2023
African bank does not stick to their agreements /payment plan with clients
I keep having the same issue everytime. In early august i spoke to a consultant named Aubrey and we agreed that they eill only debit R200 for the month towards my loan repayment. We agreed on a recorded line. They ended up debiting both the R200 +R1400. I dont understand why they do this. I need this sorted.
1 reviews | Active since Dec 2023
African bank does not stick to their agreements /payment plan with clients
I keep having the same issue everytime. In early august i spoke to a consultant named Aubrey and we agreed that they eill only debit R200 for the month towards my loan repayment. We agreed on a recorded line. They ended up debiting both the R200 +R1400. I dont understand why they do this. I need this sorted.