Standard Bank *****

I currently bank with Standard bank and have been a customer for 25 Years. 3months ago while trying to withdraw money from an ATM, I was de*****ed, and my account was wiped out. Standard bank has taken no responsibility for what has happened and no way to prove that I was liable. It clearly shows that Standard bank has no safeguard in place to prevent you from being hacked by *****sters. They failed has a financial institution to safeguard your money and defeats the purpose of having your money in the bank in the first place. The following list highlights the events that took place and my interaction with the Standard Bank ***** department. Date of Incident: 25 February 2025 Bank: Standard Bank (South Africa) Account Holder: [S Govender] Incident: ATM card ***** and subsequent unauthorized transactions

Timeline & Key Events: 1. 25 February 2025: Card got stuck in ATM. Attempted to block the card via mobile banking app. In the short time it took to try to block it, my bank account was emptied. Eventually phoned call center. SMS was received from Standard Bank asking to authorize or block a suspicious transaction. No reply was sent. Despite this, funds were still withdrawn. 2. Same Day ***** was reported to the bank. I informed them that the money had moved from “available” to “latest” — meaning it was not fully cleared yet. Despite that, funds were released by the bank on 28 February 2025. 3. 28 February 2025: I contacted the ***** department. An agent explained the funds were released “to track where it would go” — this was noted (Point 1). 4. 20 March 2025: ***** department concluded the transactions were authorized because they occurred before the card was blocked. Bank accepted no responsibility. 5. Subsequent Escalation to Ombudsman: Ombudsman referred the matter back to the bank for resolution within 21 days. 6. 15 May 2025:

Standard Bank's final response: Transactions occurred before card was officially blocked.

Apologized for earlier miscommunication regarding the 28 Feb call. Claimed they cannot stop transactions once authorized (even though they were reported as *****ulent). No information was provided about where the funds were withdrawn or sent. The *****ulent account (recipient) remains untraced nearly 3 months later. Main Issues Raised:

1. Negligence in Handling a Real-Time ***** Alert: Despite receiving the suspicious SMS and no reply from, funds were allowed to go through. A non-response should logically trigger a block, not an approval. 2. Delay in Blocking Funds: I reported the ***** promptly. The bank still released funds that were “pending” or in “latest,” not “cleared.” 3. Contradictory Communication from the Bank: One agent said funds were released “to track activity.” Final response denied any such intent or method. 4. Failure to Trace Recipient Account: Despite stringent KYC procedures in South Africa, Standard Bank has failed to trace the account holder or even identify the bank where funds were transferred. 5. Delayed Investigation: Took over 3 weeks for a preliminary decision. Full response only arrived after 2.5 months, and only after escalation. 6. Customer Loyalty Undermined: No acknowledgment of my 25-year relationship with Standard Bank. Standard Bank’s decisions appear to prioritize procedural denials over actual investigation. This highlights not only a failure in ***** prevention but also in the way Standard Bank handled communication, accountability and customer protection.