Capitec and Absa have issued an assurance to clients following complaints that payments made between 13 and 18 December were deducted from their accounts almost a month later.
"Capitec clients affected by a glitch in Absa-supported card machines made only one payment, not two. And they will not pay interest on negative balances."
Capitec and Absa have issued an assurance to clients following complaints that payments made between 13 and 18 December were deducted from their accounts almost a month later.
"Capitec clients affected by a glitch in Absa-supported card machines made only one payment, not two. And they will not pay interest on negative balances."
Some Grahamstown residents were among the 168 000 Capitec account holders affected by Absa's technical error, which Capitec explained as follows: "The payments were not authorised until the morning of the 6th January, 2013."
"The error occurred as after clients made their initial purchases, the transaction was sent via MasterCard for final settlement from the various retailers and their supporting banks… the card transaction was not yet processed on their bank statement although the funds were deducted from their accounts."
However, as the final settlement was not authorised the payment was cancelled and the funds were made available to all affected clients again.
The bank said it had sent customers SMSes advising them of the actual status of their accounts, and that customers would be reimbursed for these.
Some clients have ended up with negative balances because of the error.
A post on Monday by Nickkiei on consumer complaints website HelloPeter reads: "I had R880 in my account on Friday 03.01.2012, i swiped my card at a shop (fnb machine) Sunday morning all the transactions for 13-18.12.2012 went through ….. Now my January 2013 amounts is lying in negative??"
An employee at the High Street branch of Capitec bank who asked not to be named said: "All I can tell you is that yes we have had a few complaints from some of our clients, but just a few."
A Grahamstown resident who was at the bank when Grocott's Mail was there said he'd been shocked when he went to make a purchase and found much more had been deducted.
"It was really a scary moment, as I didn't know what was happening," he said. "And who wants that in a month like January?"
He said he'd contacted the Market Square branch of the bank, where he was helped swiftly.
"I'm really grateful that they managed to sort the situation fast because I was really shocked," the man said.
Asked if she'd considered switching banks, another affected customer said, "Not really. I can't just switch banks when the service all these years has been fine. It's not like I was swindled of my money." Both banks involved have apologised.
