New bank changes coming into effect in South Africa from July

BANKS in South Africa have less than a month to ensure compliance with a new conduct standard, or risk facing hefty fines.

The conduct standard, which was published on 3 July 2020 and issued under the Financial Sector Regulation Act of 2017, aims to entrench the fair treatment of customers from banks across all service platforms – including social media.

Jessica Blumenthal, an executive at law firm ENSafrica, said that while some of the conduct standard provisions have already come into operation, the remaining provisions – which includes the section regulating customer complaints – will come into force on 3 July 2021.

“In terms of Section 8, all banks must establish, maintain and operate a complaints management framework, which provides for appropriate complaint record-keeping, monitoring and analysis.

“Banks will then need to report to their governing bodies and relevant committees outlining identified risks, trends and remedial action taken,” she said.