First National Bank South Africa Reviews 

I was with them for years, and honestly the service was always lacklustre. But it really came to ahead recently when I got tired of all the absurd amount of bank charges and decided to move.

It took them THREE months to close my account, in fact, as of today, it still has not been closed. Despite perhaps 7 or so contacts via their chat and call centres. They've continued to charge me for an account I'm not using, and even single time to speak to my 'premiere banker' they tell me that account closures take a week to process. It's been 3 months?

Then they tell me that I'll need to wait for this to be escalated as said person cannot close the account after 3 months, and will not send me account closure confirmation.

I would absolutely advise staying far far away from them. The price they charge you, for the level of service they give you is absolutely disgusting.

They suck useless can't read bunch they will eat your soul and then say we apologize for the inconvenience

FNB is the most dishonest honest bank out there, do not bank with them. A Little while ago I needed to get a new FNB card for my basically dormant FNB account that I used to pay one debit order per month. I would transfer the amount that I needed to pay into the account and it would be debited. Around the same time I got a call from an FNB agent thanking me for being a loyal customer and offering me a new card with a different type of account to which I specifically asked if ‘anything will change on the account/fees be increased’. I was assured it would not. However at the end of the call, the agent put some legal jargon in about abiding by FNBs legal T&C and rates. Thus Changing his assured no to my question to a legal yes without actually telling me. So you can ask the right questions and they will give you the answer you want and then use jargon to nul and void it. Also as part of the call an overdraft was put onto the account but I was told ‘if I don’t use it then I wouldn’t be subject to it -it’s only if you use it’. Then what they did was increase the fees on the account to R200 and their fees ran into the overdraft that they activated- this paying themselves from the overdraft! If you log into the app it does not show that the overdraft has been activated!! So you literally have no way of seeing that the account is in an overdraft. Been overdrawn by their fees that they increased under their T&C, thus putting the overdraft on only to pay their own fees with it! I went in to close the account because the fees are ridiculous but you can’t stop nor change the account until you’ve paid off everything. I’ve been into the bank 7 times, called in probably ten times and they keep transferring you over and over again, never giving you any answers nor help. Or the call cuts or they never answer the transfer until you run out of airtime. They ‘offer’ a payment plan that is less then what the fees are basically keeping you in dept to their ridiculous fees, which they refuse to reduce or hold. My opinion of this is FNB is acting as a ‘legal’ loan shark. I’ve asked ten times for the account to be changed or the fees to be lowered as it’s a dormant account I don’t use running up in arrears due to their fees and they refuse to help. Do not trust them. Do not engage with them when they call and offer a ‘new product’. There’s fine print in the conversation that they don’t tell you but hide behind legal jargon and a flurry of words that overwhelm you.

What is sadder is that the overdraft facility is marketed to ‘help’ those in need to reach month end. But the fees that come with it will actually sink those in need and they know it. I was in some way lucky that I had never intended to use the overdraft and this set it at a minimum. But who is prepared to pay R200 in fees in order to have an overdraft facility of R1000 in case of emergency. You’ll pay that ‘help’ back more then 2.5x in fees per annum. That’s not help, that’s entrapment. And they know that the overdraft doesn’t show as activated on the app. When I complained about not seeing it on the app they agreed that it didn’t show with one consultant even saying she’d put my suggestion forward for it to show as it’s a good idea?!

Is there a Zero star option??? because the competence of 99% of FNB staff are on the level of Grade 5 school children. If they don't like your voice tone or race they just cut you off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NO FNB why did your standard fall so low????
I was so proud to open an account back in 1980, but now I regret every moment. Please close your doors

I spent an hour on the phone being passed arround from one department to another, going around in circles. Nobody could help me. Eventually I was told to send an email to their customer care department. They replied about a week later telling me to come into the branch to sort it out (despite me telling them I'm overseas so cant visit a branch in person).

As many orther clients have experinced. The bank has no desire to actually help its clients. Its relying on poorly executed tech to do the job its actual people cant even do. Horrible experince just trying to open a business account. Thr redirects, form submissions, and dropped calls and cumbersome ai agents make it a long process to find out you still dont have a resolution. Going to be moving our business elsewhere.

Again today I was on secure chat fir over an HR with consultants dropping calls at critical points after requesting critical info. Again my whole chat disappeared after a consultant called me Mrs Mladi twice and ask me weird question not related to my matter.
Then dropped my call after asking so many account specific questions.

I was going to report it but when I checked again I've 70 mins of conversations verifying all I'm saying was deleted.
This is not the first time secure chat histories were deleted.
They have extremely unethical business practices and a total and complete lack of accountability. If you doubt my word then pls see the other reviews on this site on them.
I eventually called the aspire chat line. I was hung up on as some idiot kept saying goodday and expected me to say good day back and when I said hello mam did not find it acceptable.
That person seemed like a psycho.
Then finally on 3rd call . Now nearly 3 hrs later I got the advice I sought from a nice lady who seemed totally not to belong to the FNB culture of crap service...I hope she moves to a facility mir in keeping with her good service STDs and attitudes asap as the kind of rit in FNB clearly seems contagious

I been banking with FNB for the past 22 years. Over time or recent times it seems as though has LOST the plot to serve their clients. They give all the control to the service providers and do NOTHING to assist their clients with stopping debits, disputing debits or suspending as per the CLIENTS request. They quick to take bank charges and increase every year but they became laid back to assist clients. WE Are PAYING for services and they should serve THE CLIENTS not the SERVICE PROVIDERS. Do as we say with OUR MONEY OUR ACCOUNT NOT URS FNB! Give me CONTROL over MY Account or IL FIND ANOTHER BANK THAT SERVES ME NOT URSELF!

FNB is an utterly disappointing bank and lousy service from their 'Private Banking' or so-called specialist consultants/advisors.

Been banking with FNB for 15 years and my wife for 13 years, and during this time has my accounts/home loans/ car finance etc always been in good standing.

I applied for a home loan and received a ridiculous interest, 1% more than my previous one to be exact! Which might not sound much but I’m sure many would know the impact this has on the overall interest over term.

When I asked for a review, the consultant had the audacity to tell me, 'If client has competitor quote, we can revisit.' In those exact words! Now does that sound like client service? For anyone considering FNB for any product I would strongly suggest you reconsider. They are only interested in selling you their over-the-top products, especially their so-called 'Private Client' suite offering which in my opinion is totally useless and a sales gimmick.

I used to have my home loan with the 'blue flag' bank and FNB convinced me to switch with empty promises. My advice is to consider the 'blue flag' bank as their platinum bank service (equivalent to FNB's premier banking which is a level below private) offers much better service than FNB's private banking service for half the price. FNB does not appreciate loyalty from their customers.

I will seriously be looking into moving all my products elsewhere. Back to the 'blue flag' if I can. Don’t also bother or get your hopes up if their complaints department calls you. They will listen to and acknowledge your complaint and then you will not hear from them again.

VERY DISAPPOINTED AND DISCOURAGED BY THEIR SERVICE AND TREATEMENT.

If I could give zero stars, I would. FNB commercial client services subjected my business to an absolute nightmare, freezing my account and withholding my operational funds for three grueling months without any valid justification or assistance. The level of incompetence and sheer lack of internal coordination within their compliance and backend teams is staggering.
​One department would send automated, arrogant demands for irrelevant paperwork over a 65-cent balance, while another completely overrode my active requests and unilaterally closed the account under a random case number without a single word of apology for the immense financial strain they caused.
​They expect absolute compliance from clients but offer nothing but broken app portals, systemic delays, and robotic, dismissive service recovery in return. Getting my own money out of their vault required fighting through layers of bureaucracy, escalating the matter to the National Financial Ombud Scheme, and forcing a manual override myself. I have completely moved my funds away. Avoid FNB Commercial if you value your livelihood and sanity.

Absolutely terrible. The people do not know what they are doing...For 1 hour I have been calling ,wasting my own airtime just to be repeatedly transferred. No one made the initiative to contact me,despite having all my information ,to tell me my loan application got denied.
FNB is an absolute shit show.

I have been trying for weeks to resolve a small payout.
no notifications received.
two reference numbers given and have been transfered from pillar to post.
I WILL NO LONGER BE PLAYING FROM MY APP

If i could give 0 stars, I would. I have been waiting 2+ hours in branch to close an account. Only 2 consultants who keep on disappearing for long periods of time. I have been "next in line" for all this time.

Not Recommended.
Poor Service provider.
Staff not Friendly and Heipful.

Going to have to leave FNB, they are are useless, incompetent, lying, illegal thieves.

Customer service is pathetic

Terrible service, you have to wait 10min for a message response and your chat gets cancel if you don't respond within 2min. Which decrepit idiotic tool designed this system?

Incompetent staff, dodgy business practices, and not a care in the world. Truly the most useless bank there is. FNB DOES NOT CARE ABOUT IT'S CUSTOMERS, They merely protect the interest of its shareholders. And unless you have a seat at a board meeting, FNB will do the bare minimum! They hide their shady business practices under legislation only an advocate could understand. If I were you, I'd Stay far far away from this bank. The rest isn't any better so we the people have to choose between which bank is less dodgy! So much for free will.

FNB Has Held My Money Hostage Since 2023

I never imagined that a bank could block a customer's account for years while continuously asking for more documents and providing no meaningful resolution.

My account has been blocked since 2023. During this time, FNB requested my ID, which I submitted immediately. The account remained blocked. They then requested proof of address, which I also provided. Still no resolution. Now, after years of waiting, they are asking for my red barcoded ID/book.

How many times must a customer prove their identity before they can access their own money?

What makes this situation even worse is that I am a husband and a father of two children. FNB's actions have had a devastating impact on my family's financial well-being. Bills don't stop because a bank decides to keep your funds inaccessible. Food, rent, school expenses, and daily living costs continue, yet my money remains out of reach.

I fully understand the need for compliance, FICA verification, and fraud prevention. However, there is a huge difference between protecting customers and trapping them in an endless cycle of document requests with no end in sight.

After nearly three years, I feel ignored, frustrated, and completely let down by a bank I trusted with my finances. No customer should have to fight this hard to access their own funds.

FNB needs to do better. Customers deserve transparency, accountability, and timely resolutions—not years of uncertainty and financial hardship.

I hope someone at FNB finally takes ownership of this matter and resolves it once and for all.

Reported a fraud case last year May, never received feedback or an update. Recently followed up, only for a formal letter to be sent that my case was closed. I have a second case, still same thing, they claim to have sent me feedback. Called to follow up up, second case closed. Their fraud department should be called Admin office as their investigations are pointless, they don't fig deep, they are unable to tell you where your funds have gone to and they are also unable to return them. They are deemed to be the most advanced in technology but in reality it's not the case. I have received much greater services from other banks fraud departments. We pay high fees for nothing. They may as well be working hand in hand with the fraudsters. Disappointed is an understatement.

Do not bank here, especially if you are a foreigner and ever need FNB’s help to get your money back. They will try to sabotage everything and everywhere they can. They get a kick out of making your life miserable!
Take Investec or capitec but not this lot!