**************** by Standard bank- not student friendly

Absolutely disgruntled with the service I've been receiving from Standard bank. I've had a student account with them for 3 years and been subjected to numerous bank charges and levies (whilst most banks do not charge students bank charges).

I made the decision to switch to another bank this year, however it was going to be a bit of a hassle to do so due to the covid situation that presented and thus kept my account till I was able to change.

This year, on the 29th of November I made a payment of R140 on an online purchase. Since I did not have data on my phone at the time, I used their sms login (as I did have airtime) to check my balance before I made the payment and that confirmed sufficient funds in my account (approximately R150). After making this payment, I received an SMS notification stating that the payment was made and my account balance was now R8.54. As I had a positive balance (as per the SMS), I didn't worry about it as I knew that I would receive my covid-19 grant (my only source of income, as previously stated I am an unemployed student) and this will reflect. Imagine my surprise when I finally received my university data stipend, only to log into the standard bank app and see that I have been charged a fee of R135 for an honouring fee and that my account is now in overdraft! According to their statement (which did not reflect on my SMS notification which still states a positive balance), I had R1.30 less than my purchase of R140, thus the honouring fee charge. I called a consultant and explained to him, in tears that I'm a student and my only source of income was my grant, and that even if I was R1.33 off (which again didn't correlate with their SMS notifications), how can that warrant an honouring fee of R135? I explained to him that it may not seem like a lot of money, but to me that depends on that R350 a month, it's certainly a lot of money. He agreed with me but explained that he couldn't do anything else or reverse that fee, even though he agreed it was an unfair and unnecessary charge with respect to the amount. I've now had R138 deducted from my grant this month and am only left with R215.

I would urge all students to explore other banks as an option, I have friends that bank with FNB and pay no bank charges and never have these kinds of issues. As soon as possible I am closing this account, as the ethics of Standard bank do not match what they're charging, not by a long shot. This is ****************, and only to be told that they can't do anything about it is a poor excuse. Playing with people's livelihoods is something that cannot be excused.