Standard Bank Left Me Without Access to My Own Money for a Week

I have banked with Standard Bank for my entire life, but after this week, I will be moving to another bank permanently.

Standard Bank approved a credit card auto-payment from my account despite there not being sufficient funds available — something that has NEVER happened to me before. Usually, the transaction reverses automatically within an hour or two. Instead, they allowed it to go through, pushed my account into a massive negative balance despite me not even having an overdraft facility, and effectively left me without access to my own money for an entire week.

Today is Friday and this started on Monday. My money is still nowhere to be found — not in my cheque account and not reflected on my credit card either.

I have called multiple times and received nothing but incompetence, empty promises, and a complete lack of accountability. One consultant even admitted that the transaction should have been reversed and promised to escalate the issue and get back to me. She never did. Every single interaction since then has been equally useless.

Meanwhile, Standard Bank has continued charging me “honouring fees” DAILY while I sit in a negative balance that THEY created. I have now been unable to pay my rent on time, will likely incur penalties because of it, and spent the entire week unable to access money for basic necessities.

The stress and frustration this has caused me is unbelievable. Holding a customer’s money hostage for days while offering no real assistance is unacceptable. After being a loyal customer for years, this experience has completely destroyed my trust in Standard Bank.

Absolutely disgraceful service