Left in the dark again
Customer dissatisfaction with the closure by Standard Chartered Bank of its consumer banking division, formerly known as 20twenty, is mounting. Of particular concern are overdrafts, which have been called in on 60 days notice, while alternative credit facilities are both more expensive and harder to obtain.
01 March 2006
Resentment, disappointment and anger are turning up everywhere. On websites, in personal e-mails, and in letters to the ombudsman for banking services, the retail banking customers affected by the final closure of 20twenty have been venting their frustration.
Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) bought online retail bank 20twenty out of curatorship in 2003. The fledgling bank, caught up in the collapse of Saambou in early 2002, had a reputation for superior customer service, low fees and a revolutionary approach to banking that mostly entailed not acting like a bank. The bank had offered an innovative all-in-one facility, which acted as a credit card account with a petrol card, a current account as well as a transmission account for simple, branchless banking.
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