Standard Bank Group Reviews 

Useless and outdated. Their in app chat system does not have consultants. I waited for 3 hrs while overseas to try and chat to a consultant and eventually gave up. Primitive banking app. Useless what’s app because it’s a bot chatting to you. I don’t even know why it’s in the big 4. Terrible online system especially when you travel.

This bank is absolutely not customer friendly. They have no interest to resolve your challenge/ problems with them. No customer service, no interest in your matter just move you from one department to the other. No one takes the responsibility to own the matter and help you resolve it since 2 month I try to resolve my issue with them. They ask non stop for additional things. Each time the other or same department ask for same thing you provided already and you need to deal with an other person

One of the worst experiences as a customer of my life. Over two months for the application. Wanted less BS and regulation, so I tried an offshore bank, got the exact opposite. Pure torture...
4 months after application I still don't have a card to pay, neither physical NOR VIRTUAL!
Complaint management is also a joke. They just say sorry that we suck, but I am happy that your account is open now.
Onboarding was also absolutely TERRIBLE. Counterintuitive, cumbersome, needed help being a Senior Product Manager for Software.

Do not become a customer! You WILL regret it! As soon as I find a proper offshore bank, I'm out.

Worst experience I have ever had with a bank. They do not care about their clients, at all. If you should ever get in trouble, they will look the other way and do absolutely nothing to help you. Stay away from them.

What an absolutely unprofessional offshore bank. They don’t communicate they literally hold you ransom to your own account. My cards were suddenly blocked without notice. Countless calls have failed to resolve the matter. Simply told it’s an internal process, they can’t give timelines, can’t give you anyone in higher authority to speak with. Totally disgusting and unprofessional. I strongly recommend anyone wanting to open an account with this bank give it serious consideration. Unprofessional, unethical and in simple terms utterly useless. As soon as l can resolve this matter I will be closing and moving b my account.

Absolutely hopeless! I have not been able to pay for my mums care and rent despite 130 minutes of phone calls @£1 per Minute. No one calls back! No one knows what the problem is! It’s been 20 days now and I am seriously distressed 😤

Standard Bank International I.O.M.: The worst banking experience I have ever had. I closed my account and a computer error on their part, held my considerable amount of funds up for over a month. Then, after a lot of haggling, they gave me £100 compensation. Would never bank with them again.

I am at wits end with this bank. My card was cloned, my app hacked, lost $8k and its been a month and NO communication. Weekly mails - still investigating 😡. They can clearly see it was used in a different country as to where we live, yet NO help. I will definitely not leave it here. I am at the point to report this to the FCA and PRA. THEY.JUST.DONT.CARE!!!!!! After almost 10 years, and this is how they handle cases. Shocked

I've been a loyal customer of Standard Bank International for six years, but recent events have turned my experience into a nightmare. After their involvement in a money laundering scheme came to light, they've chosen to block my account's essential functions, leaving me unable to perform EFT transactions. I can swipe my card, but that's about it. Meanwhile, I have bills to pay, a business to support, and family members relying on me, all of which are impossible now.
To add insult to injury, about a year and a half ago, I requested an update to my personal details—my address, phone number, and email address—so they could send me a new token and card. They sent the items to my new home address without verifying it properly, but never updated my email address. They could have sent my sensitive information to anyone, which is a glaring oversight.
I've called them multiple times from home, incurring international fees, and when I'm working on a yacht far from South Africa, I can't just place international calls every time. It's not the issue that I can't place international calls every time; the issue is that their team is simply incompetent at updating my details. Despite multiple requests, they continue to respond to my old email address, forcing me to spend months recovering it, while the due diligence team refuses to acknowledge my updated information, even though the rest of the bank is well aware of it.
Standard Bank even has a secure messaging app, but in the past month, I've asked for updates through it and received zero responses. It doesn't matter which consultant gets the message; the entire team appears incompetent and unwilling to help.
To make matters worse, Standard Bank International’s reputation is so damaged that even other banks are reluctant to engage with them. I lent money to a Filipino colleague, and when they tried to pay me back, several Filipino banks refused to process the transfer because it was going to a Standard Bank International account. I never imagined that simply receiving money from abroad would become a red-flag situation.
At this point, the message is clear: the institution that once positioned itself as international, stable, and trustworthy is now more of a liability than a lifeline. Thanks, Standard Bank, for turning what should be a simple banking experience into a drawn-out saga of frustration, risk, and astonishing indifference.

Once the account is open I would give it a 3, but takes about 6 months to open up an account!