Another banking ****

After checking my bank statement a couple of days ago I noticed a debit for the amount of R20.18 on 19/08. It appeared in July as well. I thought it was probably connected to my British pension as the description was GB Linkage but thought I’d better check. After nearly an hour on the phone to the call centre, It appears that it is a Greenbacks subscription dating back to April 2018! This amounts to R343.06. I wasted more time in the branch yesterday, 29th August trying to get to the bottom of it and yet another 30 minutes on the phone to the card division later. I have been promised a refund, Vaneshri to call me and confirm this. Whilst the refund is welcome, it is hardly the point. Lufando(?) at the call centre tells me this is linked to my Optimum account. I have had this account for 5 or more years. As I knew nothing about Greenbacks, Lufando suggested I order the card and take it from there; this I did. I went to Randburg branch to get further details and collect the card. Turns out, in 17 months, I had a whole R89 in the card, because I seldom shop at any of the participating stores. Had anyone motivated Greenbacks to me I would have realized this and declined.

* Why was the Greenbacks initiative not proposed to me at the inception of the Optimum account? * Why, 17 months ago, did somebody decide to activate Greenbacks? * Why was I not consulted? * Who authorized this monthly raid on my bank account? No-body consulted me by phone, email or SMS.

In my opinion, this is nothing less than theft!

If Nedbank has done this to 1000 unsuspecting clients, they have raked in R343,000. 10.000 clients, far from impossible, a nice tidy profit of R3,430,000.