34 Years of Loyalty Ends in Frustration with Standard Bank

I joined Standard Bank when I was 13 years old. I am now 47, and after 34 years of being a loyal customer, I decided today was the day to end my longstanding relationship with the bank. Over the years, I’ve observed considerable changes in how Standard Bank conducts business, and while I understand that change is inevitable, it seems that client service has taken a back seat to rigid systems and policies that no longer prioritize customer satisfaction.

One major concern that contributed to my decision was the changes in how debit orders are handled. Previously, if a debit order failed due to insufficient funds, a penalty fee would be attached, and the debit would only be retried on the 15th of the following month. This gave customers a grace period to arrange for funds. However, the system later changed to repeatedly retry the debit order immediately, adding penalty fees with every attempt. This felt punitive and unfair.

More recently, I noticed another disturbing practice. If a debit order fails, Standard Bank now honors the debit, plunging the account into credit, even if no overdraft facility is active. I had deliberately stopped my overdraft a few years ago, expecting that the minimum balance on my account would remain at R0. Yet, the bank decided to honor debits without my approval, forcing my account into an unapproved credit balance.

Today, I went to the Walmer Park Standard Bank branch in Gqeberha to close my account. Since this branch is a “bank without tellers,” it appears to serve more as a consulting firm than a traditional bank. I arrived around midday, expecting the process to be straightforward. The branch was relatively empty, so I logged my details at the information desk and was third in the queue.

I waited for 30 minutes without any movement in the queue or communication from staff. Frustrated but needing to honor other appointments, I left and returned later in the afternoon, around 2 p.m. This time, I was seen by a consultant after a short wait. I was hopeful this would be resolved quickly. Unfortunately, it was not.

To my disbelief, I was informed that my account was 50c short of the pro-rata fee required to close it. Because there are no tellers at the Walmer Park branch, no one could accept the 50c that I put on the table. Instead, I was directed to the Pickering Street branch to deposit the 50c with a teller.

When I arrived at Pickering Street, the teller fee to deposit the 50c was R7.50! I deposited R20 into the ATM instead. Thankfully, the consultant at Pickering Street then transferred the remaining funds in my account to my other bank account. I found this move thoughtful and appreciated their initiative, but the entire process was still unnecessarily complex.

After 34 years, it is disappointing that my relationship with Standard Bank has ended on such a sour note. A process as straightforward as closing an account should not be this tedious, especially when the reason for the delay is something as trivial as 50c.

I can no longer support a bank that prioritizes rigid systems over client service. I hope Standard Bank will reevaluate how they treat loyal, long-term customers in such a competitive environment....