Standard Bank glitch: Clients shocked by empty account balances

Clients of Standard Bank, one of South Africa’s prominent banks, woke up on Sunday morning to find that their accounts reflected a zero balance.

However, before the end of the day, Standard Bank had resolved the issue, and clients’ accounts once again reflected their correct balances.

The bank told The Citizen the service issues affected a limited number of client accounts.

Standard Bank always has creepy stuff happening on the app. Now my balance is R0.00 ?? Aye I’m so confused

— Kgomotso_xo (@_Kgomotso_M) June 22, 2025

Standard Bank gives back the money

One of Standard Bank’s clients said she realised her money was missing when she wanted to buy electricity. What frustrated most of the clients was that the bank’s customer service offered little help, as no one on the line could provide an explanation for what was happening.

Without revealing too much information, the bank added, “The matter was promptly investigated and resolved. All services are now operating normally.”

Another client said he realised his money was missing when his card was declined as he was trying to make a purchase at a store.

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Standard Bank denies security breach

In July 2024, almost a year ago, Standard Bank denied a security breach after a similar incident occurred. Like on Sunday morning, clients were complaining about being unable to reach anyone at the bank for assistance.

“We can confirm there hasn’t been a security breach specific to any of our systems or anything that we saw in 2021. However, what we saw this month-end is an increase in fraud activity as fraudsters try to target clients at the month-end because they know there’s money in the customers’ accounts, and there are many fraud modus operandi we tend to see and block those without even the customers knowing,” Standard Bank’s chief risk officer for personal and private banking, Thabani Ndwandwe.

In 2021, Standard Bank and property firm Lightstone confirmed that they were hit by a data breach through property valuation platform LookSee, and that the personal information of property owners had been exposed.

Bathong Standard Bank took all my🥲money just like that, my balance is 0.00. No notification, no nothing 😭 I’m so defeated😩They are not even answering our calls!

— B (@Bokangxo) June 22, 2025

Fraud tips

Although the outcome of the bank’s investigation remains unclear, Standard Bank has listed a few tips for clients to follow if they suspect fraudulent activity on their accounts.

1. Contact your bank immediately: Notify your bank about the unauthorised transactions or suspicious activity. Provide as much detail as possible about the specific transaction.
2. Change your passwords and PINs: Change your online banking password, PIN, and any other access codes associated with your account. Ensure that the new passwords are strong and unique.
3. Document everything: Keep detailed records of all communication with your bank, including the names of bank representatives you speak with, dates, and times of calls or visits, as well as reference or case numbers.
4. Notify the South African Police Service (Saps): Report the fraudulent activity to your local Saps station. They will provide you with a case number, which may be required by your bank to facilitate further investigation into the incident.

“Review your bank statement regularly to stay informed about your transactions and identify any errors or fraud in a timely manner.”

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