Capitec is the most complained-about bank: Here's what people are moaning about

Capitec saw the biggest increase in customer complaints in 2022, says Ombudsman for Banking Services (OBS) Reana Steyn.

In a report released this week, she said her office received 47,819 calls from customers complaining about South Africa's banks in 2022, compared with 41,880 in 2021.

Active cases per month for 2022 averaged 1,424, compared with 1,504 in 2021, with Steyn's team taking an average of 67 days to close a case compared with 70 in 2021.

Capitec grievances rose by 11% from 1,651 to 1,826, while Standard Bank dropped by 31% from 2,070 to 1,385 and FNB decreased by 21% from 1,452 to 1,147. Absa had the lowest number of cases among the big banks, with 1,068 cases, compared with 1,063 in 2021.

The biggest subcategories of complaints were mobile banking fraud and vishing.

“As always, the types of complaints the OBS had to deal with covered a wide spectrum, with digital banking, current accounts and personal loans at the top end and Covid-19 complaints and business banking among the bottom categories,” Steyn said.

According to the report, African Bank saw 72% of referrals being converted to formal complaints, followed by Nedbank (64%) and Tyme and Bidvest banks (both 53%). FNB converted only 34%.

The bank with the best average turnaround time (the number of days it took to close complaints, on average) was Capitec (58 days). Standard Bank had the worst average turnaround time (73 days).

Capitec also had the highest percentage of cases being decided in its favour (85%), while Nedbank had the lowest (72%).

Almost three-quarters (72%) of complainants were aged between 26 and 66. Twenty-four percent were older than 66 and 4% younger than 26.

“That so many of the complainants were older could be an indication that these consumers are more vulnerable to fraud, especially in the digital banking space,” said the ombudsman.

According to gender, 54% of complainants were male, 46% female. Gauteng accounted for almost half the complaints (47%), the Western Cape 17% and KwaZulu-Natal 13%.

“The number of files opened in 2022 per bank is not necessarily indicative of the individual bank’s complaints handling performance or performance in general, for that matter. Banks vary considerably in size, client profile and product mix, and these factors all impact on the number of complaints made against a bank," Steyn said.

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.