Bank is unfriendly

EDITOR - I read with interest your article about FNB launching a money transfer service with Moneygram. Yes the service is much cheaper compared to other services already available but take note that FNB being one the biggest banks around here is very unfriendly to foreigners.

I have been banking with them since 2005 as they are the cheapest bank in terms of bank charges, but they couldn’t give me a vehicle loan or a house loan, or a personal financial loan despite all these years of loyalty, saying their policy forbids them giving loans to a non-South African ID holder.

Surprisingly Standard Bank and Nedbank managed me to give a housing loan, a personal loan and a vehicle finance even though I did not bank with them. Others have experienced similar frustrations. It will take time to convince us that they are genuinely assisting foreigners.

I opened an account with Standard Bank. All I have to do is transfer some money and my mother can withdraw at any ATM in Zimbabwe at a cost of about $2. She can also swipe for groceries at no cost.

So for me it’s cheaper that way because if I transfer R4000 per month for her she only has to withdraw about $150 at a cost of $2 for her day to day cash needs, but for any purchase she just swipes – and it’s free. So why worry about a discriminative FNB? – B.N. – Pretoria

Post published in: Letters to the Editor
Comments
  1. noname

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *