Disgusting Service from FNB - A Longtime Customer's Frustration

I am writing to highlight the disgusting service received from FNB. I am scheduled to be paid out my pension fund and have been diligently researching the best interest rates. I found a nominal interest rate of 8.95% for a 1-year fixed deposit (based on my principal amount) at Nedbank. As a customer who has had all my accounts with FNB since I began working, I expected better treatment.

I initially contacted the consultant Sibogiseni on the 21st of June, 2024, to discuss this matter but received no response. Instead, I was directed to call the Investments department myself, only to find the provided numbers unreachable. Today, on the 26th of June, 2024, I contacted another consultant, Cebo, who directed me to a self-service option.

This experience has been infuriating. I pay for premier banking with the expectation of having consultants at my fingertips, yet I am forced to navigate self-service options despite explicitly requesting a call. When I told Cebo that I had already done my research, her response was useless. It is frustrating that FNB is quick to call me to sell products but unwilling to assist when I need help.

After voicing my frustrations, Keletso from Investments finally contacted me, only to inform me that FNB negotiates rates only for customers aged 55 and above. This ageist policy is outrageous. As a paying client, my money should be valued the same as anyone else's. The notion that a 55-year-old customer is more valuable than a young, well-educated, professional individual like myself, who belongs to the emerging affluent class in South Africa and has many more years of banking ahead, is simply idiotic.

Keletso's subsequent promise to call me at 10:30 with a revised interest rate was another disappointment. Not only did she contradict her initial statement by negotiating a rate after all, but the rate she offered was a measly 8.65%, not even matching Nedbank’s rate.

Overall, I have held FNB in high regard, but this series of pathetic service and engagement with consultants has led me to reconsider. I am inclined to take my business elsewhere, and I recommend others do the same to avoid wasting time with a bank and developing a banking history with a bank that clearly does not value its young, professional, aspiring clients.