First National Bank South Africa Reviews 390

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!

FNB is, without exaggeration, one of the most disgraceful banking institutions I have ever dealt with.

Imagine entrusting a bank with millions, only to discover that when fraud happens, the bank treats YOU like the inconvenience while protecting the fraudsters. That’s the FNB experience.

As a Private Client with a cash balance well into the millions, I expected professionalism, urgency, competence, and at the very least, basic intelligence. Instead, I was met with shocking incompetence from a so-called “private banker” who sounded like they had been dragged out of bed in a shack wearing a dressing gown — completely incapable of answering even the simplest questions.

No accountability.
No urgency.
No understanding of high-net-worth client service.
Just excuses, arrogance, and staggering levels of incompetence.

FNB markets itself as a premium bank, but behind the glossy adverts is a circus of underqualified staff, broken systems, and absolute indifference toward clients being scammed or defrauded.

The most terrifying part? Your money is genuinely safer under your couch cushions than in the hands of this bank.

I have never experienced such a catastrophic collapse in customer service, professionalism, and trust from a financial institution in my life.

If you value your money, your sanity, or your security — stay far away from FNB.

In December, I opened a Money Maximizer account with FNB and deposited the inheritance money I received from my late father, trusting that my funds would be safe and secure. Only three months later, my account was suddenly terminated without any warning, leaving me without access to my money.

After numerous calls and repeated branch visits, I received conflicting explanations. I was first told that I personally terminated the account, yet no proof could be provided. Later, I was informed that the bank itself had terminated the account due to “risk”, but again no substantial evidence or valid grounds were given.

FNB claims that they sent me a termination letter by post, but I never received anything. The bank had both my email address and cellphone number, yet no attempt was made to contact me electronically regarding such a serious matter. It feels as though the letter was simply backdated afterwards to justify their actions.

What makes this even worse is that I am still struggling to access my own money. I have lost all trust in FNB and requested that my funds be transferred to another bank account. However, I am continuously being told that delays are caused by another bank not responding. In the meantime, I am forced to drive to the branch repeatedly just to ask when my funds will finally be released.

This money is part of my emergency savings, and being denied access to it has caused enormous stress and hardship. I feel completely unfairly treated and deeply disappointed by the way this matter has been handled.

I will never do business with FNB again, and I strongly urge others to be cautious when trusting them with large amounts of money.

Took out Fnb insurance because of ebucks rewards I have a claim with yhem since the 28th of April today 24th of May it hasnt been closed off. They have absolutely no customer service at all. If you need insurance please for your own sanity look elsewhere

FNB does not investigate fraudulent activity or suspicious transactions on my account. They charge exorbitant fees for monthly fees yet still I get fraud and additional charges on my account.

As Councillor Jakes Karolia, I would like to sincerely commend Mohammed Khan at FNB Lenz Quarters for the exceptional level of service and professionalism he displayed.

There were a few hiccups and challenges due to missing information during the process, but Mohammed gave his full attention from start to finish and ensured that everything was resolved efficiently. He went above and beyond to assist, making sure the account was successfully opened while remaining patient, respectful, and attentive throughout.

What stood out most was his willingness to continue assisting even while I was at the ATM. His dedication, kindness, and commitment to customer service truly reflect the type of young individuals we are proud to have serving our community.

It is encouraging to see youth who are dedicated, hardworking, respectful, and passionate about helping others. Mohammed Khan is truly an exceptional and helpful individual, and his professionalism deserves recognition.

Well done and thank you for your outstanding service.

Hi ..I visit the FNB @Lenz Quarter Branch every now and than and there's a young gentleman by the name of Mohammed Khan who's always ready to assist me..his extremely helpful..Keep up the good work 👏

Concerned by the conduct of certain employees on dating apps. While the company itself may be perfectly professional, my personal experience left me questioning the judgement and emotional maturity being represented outside of work.

The interaction felt misleading, upsetting and unnecessarily cruel.

Would hope the organisation encourages staff to behave with more kindness and discretion when publicly associating themselves with their place of work.

I've been an FNB customer for almost 20 years, but their service has consistently gotten worse until I was just tired of paying R500 per month in account fees for a "private" account and getting nothing for it.

I requested to cancel my accounts on 15 April, after a lengthy chat session, during which you continually have to respond to ping messages or get disconnected, it was finally confirmed to me that my accounts had all been cancelled.

Today, 15 May, I get a notification that my account is overdrawn and I need to make a deposit. I log in and what do I see, my cheque account and credit card have not been cancelled.

I log on to the "secure chat" again to ask why my account has not been cancelled and firstly, the agent doesn't even know who I am - referring to me by a completely different name, but they inform me that i should have been notified that because of pending transactions (of which there were none) the account could not be closed.

This despite the fact that the previous agent had confirmed both closed. So now I must pay another R500 account fee in order for FNB to close my account, again.

When a company charges you for their incompetence, you know it's time...