Nedbank Private Wealth has warned customers that debit card swipe transactions at toll gates across South Africa will be disabled from January 20 due to fraud.

Nedbank has written to all its customers to tell them they will no longer be able to swipe their debit cards from Monday. Bank fraud, including suspected card-cloning at some of the country’s toll gates, is one of the main reasons for the phasing out of the card swiping option.

The announcement comes after First National Bank (FNB) and VISA informed clients that they will no longer be able to swipe cards at any toll gates from December 1. The South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) also informed the public that toll gates are beginning to move to contactless payments.

Nedbank has asked customers to use credit cards, garage cards, cash, or to install eTag before the Monday deadline.

“Toll gates are in the process of being converted to tap functionality and those already enabled will accept contactless debit, credit cards and smart devices linked to contactless payment apps,” said the Nedbank statement.

The announcement comes soon after SANRAL encouraged drivers to obtain a tag ahead of the festive season to reduce congestion at the busy toll plazas across the country.

The tag offers road users the opportunity for faster processing through toll plazas as tag lanes are more efficient.

SANRAL spokesperson, Vusi Mona, said changes to the banking systems and potential technical challenges – including delayed/slow processing due to volumes – could have major implications for road users trying to pass through busy toll plazas, especially when their only payment option is a bank card.”

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