LETTERS: Bank account frozen without warning

In spite of having no debit balances or other credit exposure, without any notification Nedbank froze my wife’s bank account. The Nedbank contact centre said this was a result of missing FICA documentation.
After queueing in Nedbank Ballito for a good 20 minutes, my wife got to present her documents, and I queried as to whether there was perhaps also a FICA problem with my account. Although they decided to redo my FICA documentation, it turned out that my account had not been frozen because FICA had been done in 2010.
Very strange! In 2010, we were living in Europe and the non-resident account I had with Nedbank at the time has long since been closed. In 2011 however, when my wife opened her existing Nedbank account, everything now being asked for was presented. Whatever, with South Africa being what it is, we went through the whole process and in the end, my wife was told that her account would be unfrozen in 72 hours, once everything was verified. 72 hours? Fortunately, only my wife’s account was frozen, but what difficulties can people run into if, out of the blue, their accounts are frozen?
We regularly receive calls from Nedbank where they offer us platinum credit cards, etc. With this FICA story, where it really would have mattered, no one contacted us.
You frequently see Nedbank advertisements with the slogan “Make things happen”. Perhaps that is something Nedbank CEO Michael Brown should take to heart. To be successful in the long run, you need satisfied clients, not expensive commercials.
MARKUS KÄMPF
Simbithi
Letter shortened – Editor