I hate my bank.
I am tired of having to inform it six or seven times of a change of address. The "help desk" is the most misnamed entity on earth. Calls placed there usually result in the call centre agent trying to shift the responsibility onto the card division or some other department instead of sorting the problem out. If I phone to ask why I am paying lost card insurance on a card I don`t own, I have to set aside an entire afternoon, because I know I am going to deal with someone who talks in circles. Eventually I have to stand in the queue for the information desk at my local branch in the vain hope that something will be sorted out.
The other banks must be hoping privately that 20Twenty will not find a buyer and will have to be shut down.
Iain Scott, finance editor, ITWeb
The entry of online bank 20Twenty into the local market was a breath of fresh air. Here is a bank that treats people differently. You only have to look at the devotion of its client base to know that people matter - a concept traditional banks have apparently never contemplated. Unfortunately, this alternative is under threat.
20Twenty gained a lot of support from clients who bought into its vision of online banking and never having to go to a branch again. But the banking portal fell on tough times when parent Saambou was put under curatorship. The recent sale of Saambou to FirstRand for a nominal fee of R1 excluded 20Twenty.
The portal`s announcement last week that its clients can make cash and cheque deposits at Absa does not mean that its life may be extended. In fact, unless it can find a buyer by the end of next week, its time may be up.
Although CEO Christo Davel has put on a brave face, and the online bank has consistently said it is in talks with a consortium interested in buying it, those talks have gone on for some time. But the clock is ticking. The Saambou curator will cease providing support from the end of this month.
The large banks are unlikely to acquire 20Twenty in its entirety. They already have their own online ventures. Absa has invested a lot of money in its online presence, and so has Standard Bank. FirstRand has also made a serious investment in its eBucks.com, which is probably why it excluded 20Twenty from the Saambou acquisition.
The other banks must be hoping privately that 20Twenty will not find a buyer and will have to be shut down. The online bank has a 40 000-strong client base, and the banks are probably hoping to lure that business.
But the end of 20Twenty would be a sad day for South African banking. Its clients must be hoping fervently that they will not have to go back to the grey face of business and bureaucracy that awaits them as clients of traditional banks. Like my bank.
Share