Standard Bank has apologised to a Cape Town client after it blocked his banking over fingerprints that Home Affairs said were in order.
Thomas Johnson, 64, has banked with Standard Bank for 30 years. For two months, the bank told him his thumbprints could not be verified against Home Affairs records, News24 reported.
“The Department of Home Affairs can confirm that Mr Johnson’s fingerprints are enrolled in DHA’s biometric store and are of good quality,” Home Affairs spokesperson Carli van Wyk told News24.
Van Wyk said the department had looked into the matter with Standard Bank. It found that Johnson’s problem was “an internal Standard Bank issue”.
Johnson first learned of the problem in August, when he went to his branch for a service. He holds a smart ID card issued by Home Affairs in Wynberg in January 2025.
He went back about six times before early September, mostly to the Lansdowne branch and once to Kenilworth Centre. Each time, he was told the problem was being worked on.
On 2 October, the bank gave him a form letter addressed to the Department of Home Affairs. It said the bank could not process any transactions or account requests on his profile until the matter was resolved.
The letter asked Home Affairs to verify his biometrics in writing. After that, he would have to enrol his prints with the bank again.
Johnson said a consultant told him this happened so often that the bank had a form letter for it. He refused to go to Home Affairs. He said the fault lay with the verification system, not his thumbprints.
After News24 consumer journalist Wendy Knowler took up the case, a Standard Bank complaints consultant phoned Johnson. He was told the problem had been fixed on the bank’s side.
Standard Bank apologised to Johnson “for any miscommunication on this matter”. The bank said he could still transact through branches, ATMs and merchant services. His letter had said otherwise.
“We regret that the client was not advised of our alternative authentication and verification processes,” the bank said.
The bank said it settles verification problems with Home Affairs directly when it can. It said “some issues can only be resolved by DHA”, and in those cases the client gets the form.
Standard Bank said it was looking into the root cause of the problem. It would not say how many clients had been given the letter.
The bank reset Johnson’s profile. On 14 October, he went to the Kenilworth branch, where the manager helped him and his fingerprints were updated.
“We can count our complaint outcome as a victory for all Standard customers in the same predicament,” Johnson told News24.
Knowler said several clients of other banks have told her they received similar forms about fingerprint problems. She has asked Home Affairs what could be causing the issue and was still waiting for a reply.
Source: this article is based on reporting by News24. Image: News24. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Business desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Anelisa Nkuna covers business and money news for Tzaneen Voice. Anelisa reports on the rand, fuel prices, interest rates, jobs, Eskom, Transnet, farming and company results. The aim is simple: explain what the numbers mean for household budgets, small businesses and workers in South Africa.