First National Bank South Africa Reviews 

Money was sent to me using the "instant pay" option hours and hours ago and nothing has reflected. Fnb needs a dictionary, and a poes klap.

Fnb maitland bloemfontein ...waiting time is insane having to sit in a bank for over and hour just to be assisted dont know are they short on staff pr what but its the worst bank ever coming to customer service

The bank has some problems with transfers or something like that, and it takes several days for the money to arrive, and the technical support doesn't help with this issue.

I am extremely disappointed with the service I have received from FNB in trying to withdraw funds from my PayPal account into my Capitec account.

Since receiving funds through PayPal (to assist a family in crisis), I have been attempting to use FNB’s PayPal portal. Unfortunately, the instructions on the website are vague and unclear. I have emailed FNB twice requesting that someone contact me telephonically, as I am unable to dial 087 numbers from my cellphone. Despite this, no one has bothered to call me back.

My wife even took time off from work to visit an FNB branch in person, hoping to get assistance, yet we are still left struggling. The only response I received via email was a generic message instructing me to register on their website — steps I had already followed.

It has now been more than a week without any meaningful help or resolution. For a bank that prides itself on slogans such as “How can we help you” and “Putting you first”, I am shocked at the lack of accountability and service delivery.

I urgently request that senior management review this matter and provide practical support, not generic responses, to customers who depend on these services.

Fnb has the WORST service I have ever received in my entire life. I will never in my life open a fnb account again. Because we had an account we dit not use for 4 months , the account was R7000 in arrears because of 'bank costs' alone
It is ridiculous. After paying it, we were told that we had to pay an extra R1000 because the account has R1000 overdraft that we NEVER EVEN USED but POLICY states we need to pay
so R8000 gone just because FNB are skelm moere
Fnb is just corruption with a name. Never open an FNB account.

@fnbsa I need urgent assistance with my account. My account has been on hold since August 18, 2025, and the investigation under case number 2025-3230505 has gone unanswered.

I have provided all necessary documentation, followed every step requested, visited your branch in person, and even called the FNB Fraud line multiple times, but my calls are consistently declined, and no progress has been made.

This situation is unacceptable as I rely on this account for my business and daily living expenses. Please escalate this matter immediately I need a clear update and resolution.

Avoid FNB Insurance
FNB insurance should be avoided at all cost. I had a pipe leaking under the bath which resulted in bathroom being ripped out and Top Carpet stripping the floors in my entire house. The bath was put back weeks later.It's now going on 6 weeks and nothing more has been done. My furniture left outside and no feedback from Neo Makhaza who is meant to be handling this claim. I had to move my family out if the house due to health and hygiene reasons and claimed for alternative accommodation, this claim has not even been read let alone processed and it's been a week since I submitted. I email and call daily but never see progress. This can be due to Neo, senior management and/or suppliers. If you need insurance go to an insurance company, FNB can hardly get banking right let alone trying to be anything other than a bank

I had tried applying for one of the offers on the banking application, and accidentally exited the application. When I went into the application it reflected that my application was declined. I received a call from Akhona who informed that the application was closed and I had to apply after 30 days again. However Akhona and his Manager went the extra mile to assist me and making my life easier over the phone to reapply and get my application across the line. The application was successful. I thank Akhona and his Manager for their assistance and patience in assisting me in my time of need.

This Bank will HARASS you with Emails, Calls , SMS's even WHEN YOU NOT A CUSTOMER

And just try calling them.... Oh Lord you are in for a nightmare

No -one is willing to help, no one is willing to discuss hits and just mention a manager and you IMMEDIATELY get COLD Transferred back into a whole new queue where you have to input your ID number for the 700000th time and then only to get TRANSFERRED AGAIN

Shittiest Customer Service and blatant disregard of peoples Privacy.

Getting someone to help from this bank is harder than getting blood out of a stone

This is a kak bank and I will never have anything to do with the sheer uncaring bullshit they hand out to their customers

Lazy, shitty staff who have no interest in helping any query and just worried about their AHT and Stats.

Honestly FNB SH1T

If I could give them 0 stars I would!

Not sure why they have a dispute department because nobody ever comes back to you!

Their service is shocking and if you're not a private client paying exorbitant bank fees, they just ignore you! I've sent 4 emails about a disputes and not one person at FNB has come back to me!

Do yourself a BIG favour and find another bank if what you're looking for is customer service.

FNB disappoints on every level!

I have spent the past 5 days trying to sort out a mandate for a personal loan. I have spoken with 7 different operators, only to be told that a request has been done and I will receive it in either that day or I should call back. It's been 5 whole days.

I have been a paying subscriber of FNB Law-on-Call for several years, and unfortunately, my recent experience has left me extremely disappointed.
While marketed as a convenient legal support service, the reality is quite different. The service is only accessible via phone, and strictly between 08:00 and 17:00, Monday to Friday. Despite explaining that I also work during those hours and am unable to take personal calls during the day, I was met with inflexibility and a lack of understanding. There is no option to communicate via email, which is completely impractical for many working professionals.

When you need support the most, you expect responsiveness, professionalism, and accommodation — none of which I received. Yet, the monthly debit order continues without fail.

This experience has made it clear to me that FNB Law-on-Call is not a customer-centric service, and certainly not a reliable option for individuals with demanding work schedules.

I can no longer justify paying for a service that I am unable to use effectively. I will be cancelling my subscription and do not recommend this service to others without careful consideration.

WARNING FOR EUROPEAN!

This bank will freeze al your money! Advice to stay far away from this bank

Also their support system do not even know their own system in the app! They do not know where to find anything! Horrible bank and would never be anything in Europe!

I am a widow. A mother. A woman trying to survive unthinkable loss while holding together a life that fell apart in one moment.

My husband died under traumatic circumstances. In the aftermath, I was left to navigate grief, shock, legal processes, and the weight of a world that no longer made sense. I was also left to raise our minor child alone, to carry on without the man who had been our covering and our compass.

In the midst of this—while I was still trying to breathe—FNB chose profit over compassion.

We informed FNB, along with all other creditors, that the estate could not cover all debts. My attorney wrote to them with a request that was simple: a compassionate write-off in line with what other creditors had already agreed to. Every other institution responded with understanding and humanity. Every one but FNB.

Instead of empathy, we received resistance.

Instead of grace, we received penalties.

Instead of help, we received pressure.

Eventually, after fighting just to get accurate bond settlement figures, I found a way—through sacrifice and sheer will—to pay off the bond. I thought the nightmare was behind me. But it wasn’t.

Now, FNB wants me to pay their legal fees for bond cancellation—fees that were never transparently communicated, and which the estate cannot afford. After everything I’ve paid—financially and emotionally—they are still trying to extract more.

They speak of policy. But where is their conscience?

They speak of procedure. But where is their humanity?

They offered a “grace period” only after I begged. And even then, they quietly loaded penalties. There was no kindness. No consideration. Just calculated delay disguised as favour. I am now being punished for surviving.

FNB’s conduct has added trauma upon trauma. I am not only grieving a husband—I am now having to protect my child from the financial aftershocks of a system that simply doesn’t care. It is appalling.

This is not just about money. It’s about how you treat people when they are most vulnerable. It's about the fact that I am a mother trying to raise a grieving child—and instead of help, you gave me hardship. You gave me red tape and robotic emails. You gave me the full weight of a corporate machine with no soul.

I hope someone in your organisation reads this and realises what you’ve become.

Because I will carry this grief for the rest of my life.

And now, thanks to FNB, I carry the bitter lesson that when you’re drowning, some institutions won’t throw you a rope—they’ll ask you to pay for one.

I’m really over FNB.I was private client with FNB for more than 10 Years. But now i am really very disappointed from the services. I first asked them to downgrade me from private credit card to just a normal current an account. I was assisted on this case By my personal banker. He sent me new contract that i had signed and send back to him in March. I didn't check the statement of my account as for my acknowledge my account has been downgrade. However, In July i just check my statement and i notice that I’m still being charged black card fees. When i contact them and asked them why they told me that they don't have this on the system. I had provided all the reference and contact details email address that was FNB and She still told me it's not on the system how this possible if the person works for FNB and send me contract and i signed and send back to him and i got told by FNB only when i asked that is not on the system. however, after 2 hours chat, she told the quotation that i referring it expire but at start of the chat she told me quotation is not even on the system. They keep transfer me between the deportments for hours.

I’m really over fnb . I first asked them to downgrade me from black card to just a normal current an account as I couldn’t afford the charges anymore. I was assisted twice on this case but I’m still being charged black card fees.

The next point is that I tried to order from SHEIN using my business account . There was a duplicate payment but SHEIN still don’t get there payment . Now FNB is saying it takes 7-10 days to reply . If scammers are the ones that took my money for my Daughters birthday present they will be long gone.

Useless
Can't hear them over the phone and they end the phone call without contacting me afterwards

Great service for regular people

Opening a Non-Resident Account with FNB has been one of the most frustrating banking experiences I’ve ever encountered. What should have been a straightforward process turned into weeks of back-and-forth communication, repeated document submissions, and endless delays.

Despite providing all the required documents multiple times, my account was not properly activated. Worse still, my phone number was captured with the wrong country code (+27 instead of +1), preventing me from receiving One-Time PINs (OTPs) and locking me out of online banking. This issue was flagged early on, but despite my efforts to get it corrected, no action was taken.

I even spent two hours on a call with FNB’s online banking support without any resolution. The entire process has been marked by poor coordination between departments, a lack of ownership, and no clear escalation path.

I chose FNB over other banks like Standard Bank because I believed it offered better service for international clients. Sadly, that was not the case. If you’re a non-resident looking to open an account, be prepared for slow response times, inefficiency, and a lot of frustration.

FNB needs to urgently improve its non-resident onboarding process and ensure better support for international clients. Until then, I would recommend others strongly reconsider before choosing FNB for cross-border banking needs.

I'm currently stuck outside of South Africa and unable to use my FNB card to transact, which has been incredibly frustrating and stressful. Despite activating international usage before I left, my card is being declined, and attempts to get real-time support from FNB have been slow and unhelpful.