More incidents of unexplained debit order activity

South African bank clients continue to report confusing and unresolved cases involving debit orders they say they did not authorise.

Following Moneyweb’s recent article on disputed DebiCheck transactions, an Absa customer said she recently received a DebiCheck notification on her banking app for R8 812, which she rejected.

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After taking a screenshot and logging off, the notification vanished entirely. The request turned out to originate from a mobile service provider and referenced her existing contract number.

Neither the bank nor the service provider had any record of the DebiCheck request.

“Ultimately, a customer has to be super alert at all times, which is exhausting to say the least,” she says.

‘Holistic fraud strategy’

In response to Moneyweb’s query, Absa notes that its fraud team performs ongoing monitoring and blocks suspicious activity.

“We have also incorporated dark web monitoring into our holistic fraud strategy.”

The bank maintains that complaint volumes involving DebiCheck debit orders have remained stable.

DebiCheck, introduced in 2017 to curb debit order fraud, requires customers to authorise a debit order mandate before the first collection.

Once authorised, transactions should match the original mandate, and customers can dispute unauthorised deductions.

Absa says it assists customers in recovering funds if disputes are found to be valid.

Listen: How to spot an authorised push payment scam

Incident at FNB

Another Moneyweb reader reported an incident involving his wife’s FNB account, which was debited by a mobile service provider without her prior authorisation.

“There was no record of her ever signing such a debit order, nor was she asked by FNB to verify or authorise the transaction,” he says.

Ravi Shunmugam, CEO of FNB EFT, told Moneyweb there have been instances where customers raised concerns about unauthorised debit orders.

“However, in these circumstances, we found that the customer’s information had been compromised outside of the banking environment.”

He stressed that FNB takes these matters seriously and conducts a full investigation. The bank assists customers in disputing the debit order and placing a ‘stop payment’ on the account.

The matter is then escalated to the sponsoring bank and the service provider.

Customers can also report fraud directly via the FNB app by uploading an affidavit, a copy of their ID, and a bank statement reflecting the disputed debit order.

“DebiCheck has many validation and compliance requirements prior to the debit order being processed and [it] is always checked against the mandate that the customer has authorised prior to the debit order being processed.”

Shunmugam says FNB has not recorded any incidents of internal fraud involving debit orders and customer accounts to date.

“We perform all relevant due diligence and compliance checks.”

‘Questionable’ sales processes

Shunmugam cautions that the problem may lie with service providers when the origination process takes place in a “sales environment outside of the bank”.

“These sales or contracting processes can be questionable.”

Moneyweb has seen consumer reports on social media alleging that third-party sales agents – often for products such as insurance – asked them to swipe their bank cards and enter their PINs at point-of-sale devices under the pretext of ‘affordability checks’.

Some later discovered they had unintentionally authorised a debit order, which proved difficult to cancel.

Shunmugam encourages clients to remain vigilant and carefully evaluate what they are agreeing to before sharing their banking details.

He adds that debit order compromises likely occur during the sales or contracting process – when clients share their details with third parties – rather than through the bank or payment system.

Read: How to spot an authorised push payment scam

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