Nedbank | Getting the basics right also matter...

Dear Nedbank,

Firstly, congratulations on winning 5 awards at the 2020 Global Banking and Finance Awards that included Best Retail Bank in South Africa and Most Innovative Banking App in South Africa this year.

Secondly, my personal experience might very well be an outlier, but it’s too good not to share. I recently app**** for a credit card with Nedbank and here’s my experience so far.

I made my application online on the 20th of April this year in what was a straightforward process. I also emailed through the requested documentation on the same day to make sure my application would be processed as quickly as possible.

It wasn’t quick… the next communication I received from Nedbank was on the 30th of April with my Welcome Pack for the Balance Protection Plan. Great!

I continued to wait patiently, and the next communication arrived on the 9th of May from their Card delivery team. The email said they’ve been trying to contact me to discuss the next steps relating to my card but they haven’t been able to reach me and that I should look out for a call from a particular number and I should also email them back with an appropriate time during the day for them to call me back.

I thought it was strange, I hadn’t received any missed calls from the number they mentioned in their email but proceeded to respond to the email with my mobile number and said they could call me at any time.

I didn’t receive a call but instead I received another email on the 11th of May – my first credit card statement with an amount owing (the initiation fee, the credit facility fee and the payment protection insurance I’d opted in for). All this before I’ve even received my card. Excellent!

I then proceeded to call the contact centre to find out what is going on with my application, and when I should expect to receive my card. I managed to get through to someone, who said before they help, they’d need to authenticate me – that sounded fair. The consultant asked if the mobile device I was calling from was the same number I’d provided to Nedbank, I said that’s correct. She said she was going to send an ‘Approve It’ message to my device and I should accept it – I received no message. After a few attempts, she then asked if I was connected to WiFi – I said yes. She advised me to turn off my WiFi because that could be the issue – it wasn’t, still no message. She then proceeded to try and send me an OTP via SMS – I received no text message. She then advised it might be my mobile signal to which I rep**** – my mobile signal is fine, I’m on this call with you aren’t I? I then asked her if there was any other way, she could authenticate me – perhaps ask me a few security questions? She advised she couldn’t authenticate me using knowledge-based authentication as she is unable to do so (i.e. she does not have the permission / capability and is not enabled to authenticate customers in this way). So, the only way was to transfer my call (after almost 20 minutes now) to another consultant in a different team who was enabled to authenticate me using knowledge-based authentication. Fantastic!

I spoke to the other consultant, explained my experience with the other consultant and asked why is the authentication process so cumbersome? She offered her apologies and authenticated me by asking me the necessary security questions. When explaining the delay with my card, she advised it’s due to me not signing and returning the credit agreement – which I never received. I asked her why I hadn’t received the credit agreement, is it not an automated email to customers? She advised it wasn’t and someone at Nedbank needed to send me the document, and again proceeded to apologise for the yet another shortcoming. She then advised she would ensure I receive the credit agreement to sign and return – I received the documentation on the 25th of May!

I proceeded to return the signed documentation on the 27th of May. I received a response on the 29th of May requesting my delivery address (which I provided to the consultant at the call centre) and my contact details (which was on my application form and on the email I sent to the Card delivery team when they first contacted me) which I provided, yet again.

The outsourced courier company delivered my card on the 3rd of June – a whole 7 weeks after my application online. Superb!

Then, on 11 July I decided to download the Nedbank Money App to see if I could make additional payments into the card using the app, instead of the usual automatic payment order.

The set-up process seemed easy enough, I selected a personal profile in step 1, entered my ID number in step 2 and step 3 was my old friend, the ‘Approve It’ message for authentication. No surprises, it didn’t work – neither did the OTP, however the last 4 digits (which is visible to the user) of my mobile number were correct.

I then decided to use the Chat feature on the app to see if I can get some help. I explained my situation to the chat consultant and asked if she could please verify the mobile number Nedbank are sending a message to – she advised she was unable to do so. She then proceeded to advise that should I need to change the mobile number related to my profile; I need to visit a Nedbank branch. I advised her, I’m unable to visit a branch right now due to a global pandemic called COVID-19, yes, I’m aware branches are open but it’s my personal preference not to visit one right now. She advised there wasn’t anything further she could do. I thanked her for her time and wished her a pleasant evening further. I couldn’t download the app. Wonderful!

I’m sure you’ve guessed by now; Nedbank have the incorrect mobile number for me. So I checked, I checked the credit agreement they sent me to sign and realised my mobile number had a single digit incorrect (in the first 6) – before you think I entered it incorrectly on my online application, I didn’t – I checked. And I provided it back to the Card team twice during my engagements with them when trying to arrange my delivery.

So, with all your digital capability, and with all your awards – you’ve managed to deliver an exceptionally poor customer experience, due to what I assume was a manual data capturing error during origination, transposing my mobile number from my online application onto your systems.

Yes, I acknowledge I should have noticed the incorrect mobile number on my credit agreement when you shared it with me (albeit you shared it with me over a month after my application) – it shouldn’t have been incorrect in the first place, because getting the basics right also matter...

I posted this on LinkedIn on 11 July and haven't received any communication / response from Nedbank, so hopefully this review gets their attention.