Clients with permission to withdraw money from Saambou accounts were turned away at branches due to confusion over the curator's instructions.
Following days of uncertainty over withdrawal limits on Saambou accounts, curator John Louw, of accounting firm KPMG, spelt out the details for Personal Finance readers. Hundreds of irate clients were left empty-handed after ambiguity over which account-holders were entitled to withdraw money.
All Saambou accounts, including those of its online banking arm, 20twenty, were frozen last Saturday when the bank was placed under curatorship. This followed a run on Saambou late in that week which saw R1 billion being withdrawn by nervous depositors.
On Wednesday, following a tense two days during which the bank's doors were closed, Louw allowed the 292 000 account-holders who have R4 000 or less in their accounts to draw the full amount.
Debit and stop orders would also be met as long as they fell within the R4 000 limit.
Salaries and other deposits paid into any Saambou account after 1pm on Saturday are freely available to the full amount.
All other account-holders, including 20twenty customers, were barred from accessing their funds.
Only since yesterday, have 20twenty customers who have more than R4 000 in their accounts been able draw their money. Only 20twenty customers who have a positive balance in their accounts may draw money.
Despite Louw's brief to allow certain clients to access their money, staff at Saambou branches took it upon themselves to interpret his instructions and turned away all customers who had balances of more than R4 000 in their accounts.
Holders of Money Manager, S-Card, Carry On, Tempo, Kolskoot, Savings and "Q" card accounts were given access to their money irrespective of their balances.
As the week progressed, it turned out that branches were confused about which clients were entitled to access their money.
On raising the issue with Louw, he said that the bank's computer systems have been adapted to pay out certain account-holders, whether or not staff believe they are entitled to access their money.
He advises that if you have been turned away at a branch, you should go back to that branch and try again. "I know it's a pain, but you don't have only one attempt at getting your money," he says.
The alternative is to access your money via the internet, by phoning the bank's call centre or by using an automatic teller machine, he says.
Louw says he is not able to allow all account-holders access to all their funds because Saambou does not have the money available. The money that you invested at the bank is with the borrowers of the bank, he says.
For instance, the money has been lent out as home loans. These homeowners were told they could pay back their loans over 20 years, and Saambou cannot demand that they repay their loans at once.
Some newspaper reports incorrectly stated that all Saambou clients would be able to access their money from Wednesday, February 20. But Louw has not yet decided when the rest of Saambou clients will be able to get their money.
He has undertaken to make a decision by February 20 on whether the interest portion on deposits larger than R4 000 will be made available.
Louw says that interest will continue to accrue to your account at the same rate you were promised.
Anybody who has a loan with Saambou remains contractually bound to make their repayments at the agreed interest rate.
WHO CAN WITHDRAW
- Up to R4 000 may be withdrawn against your funds in the following deposit accounts, even if you have more than R4 000 in your account: Money Manager, S-Card, Carry On, Tempo, Kolskoot, Savings Account, "Q" card and the 20one account.
- Up to R4 000 may be withdrawn against your funds in the following deposit accounts, provided the balance of available funds in your account does not exceed R4 000:
Call accounts:
Moneymarket, Group Investment, Wealth Manager and Prime Plus.
Notice deposits:
Dinkum, 32-Day Call and 88-Day Moneymarket.
Term deposits:
Fixed deposit, 3Y Profit Winner, Primelink ll, Top-Up, Win Win 2000, Base Rate, Baby Bond, Prime Plus and Optimum Bonus.
HOW TO ACCESS MONEY
If you qualify to draw up to R4 000 from your Saambou account, you can access your money in any one of the following ways:
- From a Saambou or Saswitch automatic teller machine (ATM). But remember that ATM withdrawals are limited to R1 000 a day. So if you plan on withdrawing from an ATM, you will have to draw out your R4 000 over four days;
- From a Saambou branch, which have been open to clients since Thursday this week. Branches are open from Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 4pm and on Saturday from 8.30am to 11.30pm;
- Via telephone by phoning the Saambou Direct call centre. Should you have an account at a different financial institution, you can have your funds transferred electronically to that account; and
- Via the internet. As a registered 20twenty online banking customer, you can log onto the internet and transfer your funds into an account at another bank.
TIP
Insist that the bank teller enters your withdrawal request into the computer. It is not up to the bank staff to decide whether or not you can access your money. Saambou's computer systems have been adapted according to the curator's instructions.
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