In my experience, you can get an issue dealt with at Standard Bank, but sometimes it is mostly a matter of escalating the issue until you find someone that actually knows what they are talking about. Too many personnel at Standard Bank don't know what they are talking about, and don't take the time to listen and understand what the problems are. To those personnel who do bother, you make the difference in why I will continue to support Standard Bank (see, even in one individual there are two sides).

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts, Anonymous. We appreciate your continued support and hope to improve your experience with our customer service as we Move Forward.

Please visit our Facebook page where you can view more comments on this topic: www.facebook.com/standardbankgrp

As a previously dissatisfied customer who moved my accounts away from Standard Bank about 5 years ago, it is encouraging that the bank has embraced an open platform. Perhaps you will begin to really understand the needs of your customers and return to a more personalized style of banking. When a bank takes hundreds or thousands of rands a month in fees for the privilege of using our money to make money by lending it to others, the very least we expect is a relationship and perhaps a thank you!

I am an officer in a small U.S. nonprofit that works to improve habitat for your native meerkat (Suricata suricatta). We are small, operate on the basis that all our members volunteer their time, are not compensated. We help several zoos in the U.S., several places in South Africa that provide a sanctuary for meerkats. Our web site is www.meerkatsrule.org.

We would like to raise money for these people in South Africa, but funds transfer costs are very expensive. We are not talking about large dollar amounts -- often just several hundred dollars.

I am told that Standard Bank is doing some valuable work with micropayments and supporting African economic development.

Can you recommend the least expensive way we can transfer small payments from a nonprofit in the U.S. to a bank account in South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia (the three countries that touch on the Kalahari dry area) for small nonprofits or animal-assistance projects?

Note: It appears to me, from this distance, that South Africa underestimates the great value of the meerkat as a tourist draw, thanks to the Kalahari Meerkat Project, located in the Kuruman River Reserve, and the passionate interest in meerkats created by the Meerkat Manor TV series. I can introduce you to hundreds of people in the U.S.A. who burst into tears when they learned that the meerkat female "Flower" had been killed by a snake bite.

Thank you.

Gene Gaines, gene.gaines@gainesgroup.com, Sterling VA USA

Happy to see this issue has been sorted out. Please let us know if you have any further queries, we're happy to help.

Well, Standard Bank has reneged on my HomeLoan Rate in violation of Contractual Law and the National Credit Act and continues to display unethical behaviour in this regard. I have sent my complaint to the highest level (CEO's Office) with no resolution in sight since Feb 2009. Nobody seems to have the will the rectify the situation and admit that a mistake was made and move on from there. I now have to move my accounts to a competitor who is willing to offer me Prime - 2% without any questions about my integrity. I have been told that I have been tamed by a "Director" of Standard Bank. Weird lack of business sense and no regerd for customer centricity and retention.