FNB: Stop Blaming Me for Money You Can’t Explain

If I could give them a zero rating, I would.

FNB – Enough is enough. Stop blaming your customers for a problem you refuse to investigate.

I have been an FNB customer for over 10–15 years, and after the way this issue has been handled, I am now seriously questioning why I stayed with the bank for so long.

For months, FNB has repeatedly deducted fees from my account for transactions they claim were “item paid – no funds.” Their explanation is that when I swiped my card, the transaction reduced my available balance, but when the merchant later processed the payment, there supposedly wasn’t enough money available, so FNB had to “honour” the payment and charge me.

This explanation does not make sense.

Every time these transactions took place, I had sufficient funds available at the time I made the purchase. In some instances, I still had money available in the account after the transaction. If I genuinely did not have sufficient funds available when I made the purchase, the logical outcome would be for the transaction to be declined.

Instead, FNB approves the transaction, allows me to walk away believing the payment has been made, and then days later tells me that the merchant processed it and there were supposedly insufficient funds.

So where exactly did my money go between the time FNB approved the transaction and the time the merchant processed it?

That is the question nobody at FNB seems willing to answer.

I have raised this issue repeatedly over the past several months. In some cases, FNB has eventually reversed the fees and refunded me. In many other cases, they have refused. And now, instead of actually investigating the recurring issue, I have been told that the number of queries I have submitted is “unacceptable behaviour” and that FNB needs to have a conversation with me about managing my money better.

Excuse me?

You cannot repeatedly take money from my account, fail to properly explain why these transactions are being treated this way, and then insult me by suggesting that the problem is that I don’t know how to manage my money.

I am fully aware of my finances. I know what my available balance was when I made these purchases.

I have also spoken to other FNB customers I know, and they are not experiencing this repeatedly. So rather than dismissing my complaints as a money-management issue, perhaps FNB should actually investigate what is happening with my account and these transactions.

I have repeatedly asked for answers and accountability. Instead, I am getting generic explanations, inconsistent outcomes and, most recently, a lecture about my financial behaviour.

That is not customer service. That is deflection.

If FNB’s system allows a card transaction to go through when there are sufficient available funds, then subsequently allows the funds to become unavailable before the merchant settles the transaction, customers deserve a clear and transparent explanation of exactly how that process works and why they are being penalised for it.

I am now moving my banking away from FNB and closing my accounts.

After more than a decade with this bank, I never expected that I would leave because of something as basic as being able to trust what my available balance is telling me.

FNB: Stop blaming me for managing my money and start explaining what is happening to it.

And to anyone considering banking with FNB: pay very close attention to your available balance, card transactions and subsequent deductions. If you experience the same issue, don’t simply accept the explanation that you “didn’t have funds.” Ask exactly when the transaction was authorised, when it was presented by the merchant, what happened to your available balance in between, and why you are being charged as a result.

I am done fighting the same battle over and over again.

FNB has lost my trust, and they have lost me as a customer.