Sasbo, a union representing about 73,000 members in the finance sector, has hit out at Standard Bank for its decision to suspend 49 staff for using their own funds to illegitimately activate client bank accounts in an effort to meet new business targets.
The union has accused Standard Bank of placing undue pressure on the affected employees to meet stringent sales targets and acted with the full knowledge of their managers in some cases. Sasbo said it would be initiating its own investigation into each of the incidents, adding that affected employees could be barred from working in the financial sector for up to five years as a result of the charges against them.
Sasbo general secretary Modime Joe Kokela alleged in an interview with Business Day that Standard Bank had deliberately sent the affected employees into poor areas with the express purpose of opening new accounts. He claimed the bank was well aware that these prospective new clients did not have sufficient funds to activate accounts.
“They knew what was going on — that their people were opening accounts for people living in shacks, people living from hand to mouth,” said Kokela. “They were happy with the number of accounts opened but when they realised there was no income on the accounts they told the employees it would count against their performance. It was the bank that pushed our members to perform unethical actions. We believe as Sasbo that the activation of the accounts was more of a technicality than anything else, because the accounts had already been sold to the customers. Did Standard Bank want to serve the poor or did they want to open millions of accounts?”
Standard Bank, Africa’s biggest bank by assets, on Tuesday told Business Day it was investigating 49 suspended staff members, who face being fired over charges of gross misconduct and dishonesty related to their role in illegitimately activating client accounts in violation of company procedures.
Business Day understands that the implicated staff used their own funds to activate the dormant MyMo accounts of existing Standard Bank customers without their knowledge or consent to meet sales targets.
Standard Bank’s MyMo account is a fully digital bank account that can be opened using a mobile device within minutes and does not require clients to submit additional documentation. Up to three MyMo accounts, which cost R4.95 a month, can be opened per customer with transactions conducted through a virtual card created on the Standard Bank app.
“We are specifically concerned that in some cases we are suspicious that these actions were initiated by Standard Bank staff with the knowledge of their branch management because of the unreasonable targets that were placed on staff,” Sasbo said in a statement on Thursday. “This behaviour came as a result of employees fearing to be dismissed for poor performance rather than manipulate the banks sales results.”
Standard Bank told Business Day on May 9 that it had originally charged 67 staff with gross misconduct and dishonesty after identifying 20,000 retail client accounts that appeared to have been inappropriately activated. While several media reports indicated that the affected accounts were “ghost accounts”, Standard Bank denied this, saying they were legitimate profiles opened in the name of real people and were therefore compliant with KYC (know your customer) principles.
Sasbo said it had received arbitration dates from the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) and would challenge the cases on behalf of its members. It had engaged with Standard Bank about its concerns surrounding the affected employees, but it “could not find common ground” with the bank’s executives.
“If members are dismissed for dishonesty in the finance sector, they are debarred as FAIS [Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services] representatives and will have great difficulty in obtaining alternative employment in the finance industry because they will be listed on what is called a Register of Employees Dismissed for Dishonesty for a period of five years,” Sasbo said.
Standard Bank confirmed that it has met with Sasbo but maintained that it would initiate disciplinary action against any employees that deviated from its prescribed processes, regardless of rank or seniority.
“The bank has a zero-tolerance policy to dishonesty and fraud of any kind and steps have been taken to address this through the current investigation,” the bank said.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.