Never take a student loan out from Standard Bank

Extremely disappointing and lack of client service from one of South Africa's supposedly leading and client-orientated banking groups, over a period of ten years. Every experience with Standard Bank has been nothing short of frustrating, including, but not limited to, trying to pay back my student loan. Since taking out a student loan with Standard Bank in 2010, I have experienced problem after problem with the bank, including losing a bursary from UCT as the bank was unable to locate the proof of my student loan contract. Thereafter, Standard threatened to stop me from accepting a scholarship to pursue my Masters studies in France given that I still had a student loan, even though I was still making monthly payments on my account. I have now been trying to pay back my student loan in full as I want nothing more to do with Standard Bank and wish to close my account once and forever. It has taken me two months to obtain a settlement amount, with a call to their Client Service Centre almost every day (I am currently living in France). Once I had obtained the amount, I then made a first payment in order to make sure that it would be correctly taken into account. As per expected (suprise surprise), Standard Bank was of couse incapable of doing so and to date, my loan account now shows a zero balance on both my mobile Banking application and internet Banking. Over the last three weeks, I have sent various emails and spent hours calling the client service. On each call, the client service consultant confirms that my request has been escalated and that someone will contact me shortly. Of course, no one ever does. Furthermore, I have yet to receive a response to my various emails. Next step, I have requested lawyers to contact Standard Bank. Given that my loan account reflects a zero balance, the bank should not be debiting my current account for the monthly interest payment. Standard Bank should be ashamed of how they treat and treated students, and future earners, in South Africa. I know that I am not the only one to have suffered, and many have been discouraged from pursuing their studies due to similar experiences. A bank like Standard Bank, in a country with an education crisis like South Africa, should be at the forefront, helping South African students to advance, instead of hindering their advancement.