Missing Capitec Savings Account – entire savings account disappeared.

One can only imagine the anxiety caused by a entire bank account that has gone missing. When I consulted my banking app I noticed that my Tax-Free Savings Account was no longer there – savings disappeared into thin air. As far as I understand, upon maturity of one’s annual tax-free term, Capitec gives you a call to inquire about reinvestment – if you don’t answer your phone, your account magically disappears. I’m not the only one this has happened to, see the links below.

The problem is that I’m traveling abroad and often in very remote locations, so I cannot receive calls … also there’s the time difference issue. One of the previous Complainants argued why can’t we reinvest into tax-free savings online – this makes absolute sense. I don’t get why Capitec effectively takes a decision for me because I’m not available to make a decision – this is not right!!

The other issue I have is that I wrote an email to Capitec raising my complaint almost three weeks ago – I’ve had no feedback. I also wasted R150 on airtime trying to contact Capitec to resolve my issue only to achieve nothing. Roaming fees are incredibly expensive and I cannot afford to waste money on dead-ends. I like Capitec and believe in the company but honestly I have been disappointed by this poor showing of customer service.

I would like Capitec to fully reinstate my tax-free savings account (i.e. reinvest into tax-free savings), I would like the account to reflect on my online banking (as it should) and all the appropriate interest to accrue over the period that my account has been missing. As a last note, Capitec really needs to review its policy regarding reinvesting tax-free accounts – not only is this bad from a marketing perspective, it undermines the essence of banking. If accounts go missing, people lose trust in the bank and the bank system loses credibility / relevance.

(p.s. if someone is working on this complaint, please send me a WhatsApp or an email to coordinate a appointment as I am in a different time-zone and not always contactable – Skype works as good way to chat).

Links: https://www.hellopeter.com/capitec-bank/reviews/capitec-closed-my-working-savings-account-with-my-salary-because-i-did-not-answer-my-phone-***

https://www.hellopeter.com/capitec-bank/reviews/dont-trust-them-with-your-tax-free-***