Formal Complaint – FNB Banking Services, Unauthorised Accounts and Poor Service

To whom it may concern,

I have had enough with FNB. At this point, it feels to me like my money and personal banking information are no longer safe with FNB.

I have been an FNB customer for more than 10 years, which makes the experiences I have had recently extremely disappointing.

1. Loan Account and Debt Collection

To start off, I had a loan account that was opened in 2024. I settled this account in the same year.

Since 2025, however, I have been receiving emails from debt collectors every month stating that I need to pay this account. Every time I rep**** asking them to provide me with a detailed statement showing what I supposedly owed, I received no response.

Eventually, they responded and confirmed that the original account had in fact been paid off. However, they then informed me that another account had apparently been opened in 2025.

My question is: How can an account be opened in my name without my knowledge or consent, and why does this account not even appear on my FNB banking app?

I went to an FNB branch to try to get answers. The staff at the branch could see the account on their system, but they could not provide me with any explanation as to how or why this account was opened.

They called the loan department and handed the phone to me. I waited approximately 20 minutes on the line for someone to answer. Eventually, I gave up and walked out of the branch.

I am not prepared to pay for an account that I did not open, do not recognise and was never made aware of. FNB needs to investigate this matter properly and provide me with a full explanation. If FNB cannot prove that I opened and authorised this account, I expect the account and any alleged outstanding amount to be written off and removed from my records.

2. Unauthorised Business Account and Security Concerns

Unfortunately, that is not all.

Earlier this year, somehow a business account was added to my profile without my knowledge or authorisation. I was completely unaware that this account existed.

At approximately 12:00 at night, I started receiving emails informing me that money was being transferred from my various accounts into this business account.

Fortunately, I noticed what was happening and immediately transferred the money back into one of my accounts and blocked the activity. Luckily, I did not lose any money.

I immediately opened a ***** case with FNB. INCIDENT: ***

However, the ***** case was subsequently closed, and nobody provided me with any feedback or explanation as to what had happened, how the business account was added to my profile, who accessed my accounts, or what FNB had done to prevent this from happening again.

I tried contacting the ***** department and was told that the person who handled my case would call me back.

I never received that call.

I also sent an email directly to the person handling the matter, but once again, I received no response.

This is extremely concerning. I expect a bank to take unauthorised access to my accounts and the movement of my money extremely seriously. Instead, I have been left without answers.

3. Extremely Poor Customer Service

I am now in the process of moving my banking to another bank.

I also tried using FNB's secure chat service, and what a nightmare that experience was.

You can wait five to ten minutes for an FNB consultant to respond, but if they have to wait approximately one minute for you to respond, the chat is terminated and you are forced to start the process again with another consultant.

After all of this, I decided to cancel my policies and credit card.

After a long struggle, I eventually managed to have my credit card account cancelled. I also requested that one of my policies be cancelled. I specifically explained which policy needed to be cancelled and was told that it would be done.

However, the policy is still active.

This has left me with the impression that FNB is more interested in continuing to charge customers than in providing proper customer service and resolving their requests.

4. What I Expect from FNB

I expect FNB to properly investigate all of the above matters and provide me with a written response addressing each issue.

In particular, I require:

A full explanation of how the second loan account was opened in my name without my knowledge. Proof of when and how that account was opened and what authorisation FNB has on record. Confirmation that I will not be held liable for any account that I did not open or authorise. A full explanation of how the business account was added to my profile without my knowledge. A detailed explanation of the ***** investigation, including why the case was closed and what action was taken. An explanation as to why I was never contacted after being promised a call back. Confirmation that my requested policy cancellation has been processed and that I will not be charged further for a policy I requested to cancel. A proper explanation as to why these matters have required such an unreasonable amount of effort on my part to resolve.

I have been an FNB customer for more than 10 years, and it is a real shame that my experience has deteriorated to this point.

I am now in the process of moving my banking elsewhere. After more than 10 years with FNB, I never expected to reach the point where I no longer feel comfortable keeping my money with the bank.

I sincerely hope that my next bank will provide me with better service, security and communication than I have experienced with FNB.

I expect a formal written response to this complaint and a clear explanation of how FNB intends to resolve these matters.

Yours faithfully,

Rohan van der Walt