Capitec: Your money is not safe with them.

Your money is not safe with Capitec Bank. Capitec will allow debit orders to be deducted from your account assuming that the collecting party has a valid mandate in place. They do not bother to verify if the collecting party has a valid mandate, especially if the collecting party is known for their dubious practices.

My daughter received a sms notification from Capitec on a Friday evening that money was taken from her account by debit order, we immediately contacted Capitec and were informed that we have to take it up with the collecting party, Munnik Basson Da Gama.

We informed Capitec that we have no dealings with MBDCS and no intention to deal with them. The next day Capitec refused to take our typed statement and insisted it must be certified at the SAPS.

I emailed the certified statement to Capitec. Received no reply. I contacted MBDCS on Monday morning, gave them the reference number and was informed that the matter was an Edcon Account for Maseko. When I notified them that we have no Edcon accounts and are not Maseko, I was twice put on hold before MBDCS dropped the call.

I contacted Capitec again, the call was twice dropped after I explained the situation, eventually I got through and was helped by Leratho Thekoane. I emailed the documentation to her again, as well as a recording of the conversations with MBDCS.

We requested the "authorisation from the customer to collect the funds from the customer's account through a signed, electronic or voice recorded Debit Order Mandate" from Capitec. Capitec only had to request this from MBDCS or their bank. MBDCS already confirmed that the debt was for a Maseko, the simplest check would have shown that it is an incorrect debit order, that the money in effect was ******.

The worst part of this experience is that Capitec do not bother to give any feedback to their clients, do not trust their clients to sign a declaration in front of them, but insist on sending them to have it certified at the SAPS. Leratho however can work from home, protected from Covid.

It is now a week and a half, still no response from Capitec.

It seems that Capitec and MBDCS has a cozy business relationship and prefer them to their own so called clients.

We refuse to use the app to reverse the debit order, as the debit order can be charged again at any time. The reason for the debit order must be given to ensure this mistake/*****/theft is stopped.

I assume the next step will be the banking ombudsman and a charge of theft.