He did everything right and FNB still has him at minus R7,000. Now a flood of customers say it happened to them too

He went to the branch. He went back again. His private banker phoned him. He emailed the CEO of FNB's private bank.

Every time, the answer was the same. It's sorted.

Then he opened his banking app and looked at the balance. Minus R7,000.

For one FNB customer, that number became the last straw this week. He called the bank the biggest scam in the world. Then he added the line that set everything off. He was not alone, he said.

He was right about that part. Within a day his complaint had racked up half a million views, and the replies filled up with people who had the same problem.

Why is my FNB account negative?

Most of the customers in the replies say they don't have an overdraft. Some say they had money in the account when they paid. Then, days or weeks later, the balance dipped below zero.

"I thought I was crazy," one person wrote. Another said they thought it was just them.

One customer says FNB told them they had transacted when there was no money in the account. The bank pointed to pending amounts. They say they were told the bank can approve a payment at its own discretion, even without an overdraft on the account.

Another person called one department after another. Nobody could explain the minus. They asked why only FNB seems to suffer from "late banking".

Photo: Leo za1 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

What did FNB tell the man at minus R7,000?

He says the bank gave him an answer, at least at first. According to him, FNB said its system had a problem. When he paid another merchant, money that should have come back to him was never refunded.

FNB told him the issue was sorted, he says. The minus stayed.

That pattern shows up again and again in the replies. One customer says FNB does refund the negative balance after a dispute. Then the next month, it happens again.

Someone else found a nasty catch. They wanted to close the account and walk away. They say FNB told them the account must first be brought back to positive before it can be closed.

So they would have to pay off a minus they say they never caused, just to leave.

Can FNB put you in the minus without an overdraft?

The usual answer from banks comes down to timing.

When you tap your card, the shop asks the bank to hold the money. That is the "pending" amount you see in the app. The shop's bank only sends the final claim later. That can be hours, days or even weeks after you paid.

If that late claim lands when your balance is already low, the bank can let it through. The account drops below zero. Banks often charge a fee for doing this, sometimes called an honouring fee.

FNB has dealt with delayed card payments before. In June 2019, its customers woke up to strange balances, some showing far more money than they had. FNB explained it publicly. "The incorrect balances were due to delayed debit card transactions for purchases," the bank said at the time. It apologised and reversed the money.

FNB is not the only bank to get caught out. In January 2013, about 168,000 Capitec clients saw December card purchases hit their accounts all at once. Some went into minus. Capitec promised no interest on those negative balances.

Photo: Donald Trung Quoc Don / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Has this happened to FNB customers before?

Yes, and the complaints go back years.

In 2016, an FNB customer in Namibia was charged a N$200 fee on a card purchase of N$316.35. The payment had been approved when he made it. "If there were no funds available in my account at the time of the purchase, should the transaction not have failed?" he asked. FNB apologised and spoke about "the effect of timing on transactions".

On Hellopeter, 2026 has brought a steady stream of similar stories.

In February, one customer said a card purchase went through with money in the account. A processing delay later pushed it negative. Nearly R2,000 in excess item fees followed in three days.

In May, a woman said she found her account about R4,700 in minus after buying a gas geyser. She says she ended up stranded away from home and sold her cellphone at a loss to get by.

Another customer said a Premier account showed around R5,000 in minus for months. They say their salary was deducted while the balance was still under dispute, leaving them with "no access to my own funds".

How do I dispute a negative balance at FNB?

The customers in this story have tried almost everything, so learn from them.

Start by asking FNB for a full list of every transaction that made up the minus. Ask for the date you paid and the date each one settled. Do it in writing, by email or the app, so there is a record.

Get a complaint reference number every time. Write down who you spoke to and what they promised. "Sorted" over the phone means little if the balance doesn't change.

If a refund comes through, check the next statement closely. Several people say the minus came back the following month.

How do I complain to the banking ombudsman?

One frustrated customer tagged the banking ombudsman in the thread and asked it to step in. That office still exists, under a new name.

Since 1 March 2024, the old Ombudsman for Banking Services has been part of the National Financial Ombud Scheme, or NFO. It is free to use. You first complain to the bank. If the bank doesn't fix it, you lodge a complaint at nfosa.co.za or call 0860 800 900.

The ombud is busy. In 2025 its banking team received 12,461 complaints and won back more than R53 million for customers. In 2024, 1,017 of the complaints it handled were about FNB.

As one reply put it, "escalate" seems to be the only word the bank knows. The ombud is where escalating actually ends.

It's not every day a single number turns into a national argument. Sometimes it's a lottery ticket nobody came to claim. Sometimes it's secret missions that turned out to be fake. This week, it is a minus sign.

Why won't anyone explain the minus?

Not everyone in the thread was angry. One person stood up for FNB and called it one of the best banks in the country.

But the replies kept coming, and many told the same story. They paid. The money left. Weeks later, a minus showed up that no call centre could explain.

FNB has not publicly explained the minus balances these customers are posting about. The man at minus R7,000 says he has done everything the bank asked. He visited, he called, he emailed the top.

He is still waiting for one simple answer. Where did the money go?