R1.4m ‘disappears’ from FNB customer’s bank account

An FNB customer’s blood ran cold on Wednesday morning after discovering that R1.4 million had disappeared from his business account. 

Architect Dirk Coetser told The Citizen that the discovery was made after an Uber needed to be called for an employee, but the business account used to call the ride had insufficient funds. 

Coetser said he received no notifications or emails indicating a transfer, and that he could not conduct any business today, as he could not pay anything. 

R1.4 million disappeared from a business’ account due to an error. Picture: Supplied

When Coetser logged the incident, he was told by a FNB call centre agent that other “big clients” had the same experience. 

He explained that the missing funds were far higher than the limits stipulated in his FNB online banking application, and far more his business’s available funds. 

When approached for comment, FNB Transact Pillar CEO Daniel Kaan said the matter had been resolved. 

“We have been in contact with our customer and have apologised for the inconvenience.”

Kaan added that “no losses and costs were incurred by the customer due to the error”. 

He was not able to provide any further information, due to “customer confidentiality”. 

FNB did not explain how the money disappeared in the first place, as this would have meant gaining access to Coetser FNB business account.

Coetser said the problem had to do with a technical issue involving Covid-19 loans to businesses, but that this was different to the version he was told by an FNB consultant on Wednesday morning. The consultant told him it was a “general issue”.

FNB confirmed to Coetser that they would look into the incident, to ensure it does not happen again.

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