BY MBONO MDLULI
MBABANE – The First National Bank (FNB) Eswatini is concerned on the victimisation of Emaswati, through various scams.
FNB Eswatini has promised to raise awareness on the matter, with an intention to enable Emaswati to protect themselves from these scammers. The bank made this promise today (Tuesday, November 26, 2024) at its Headquarters in Ezulwini. This was during the Press Play event, where the bank had a session with members of the media. During the session, presentations about the evolvement of payment systems were done by FNB Eswatini Acting CEO Thokozani Dlamini, together with members of the bank’s executive committee. The presentations were done with an intention of what FNB Eswatini wanted to improve customer experience to ensure efficiency.
During the questions-and-answer sessions (after the presentations), several editors appreciated the presentations. They expressed happiness at the fact that the evolvement of the payment systems brought with it the efficiency that customers needed. However, the editors felt that FNB, and other financial institutions, needed to take more responsibility.
Times of Eswatini Managing Editor Martin Dlamini appreciated that FNB wanted to improve customer experience, through the technological advancements that were seen in the financial transaction space. However, he felt that concerns around safety had to be prioritised as much as the improvements in the payment systems. Dlamini felt that as much as it was the responsibility of the customers to be careful not to lose their money, the customers also had to be helped by institutions such as FNB to help themselves guard their money. He made an example of the Facata Scams that are currently going on in the country, where many Emaswati had been victimised. He said banks had to be seen to be playing their role in ensuring that Emaswati were never victimised in this fashion – ever again.
He said at the moment, it would be easy for any person to tell Emaswati to bring their money to them to get a substantial return on their investments within a short space. People naturally wanted that to happen. However, it would be good for institutions like FNB to educate Emaswati about financial responsibility, especially because they were the ones that encouraged people to send money to them. FNB would be more credible if it did that, especially because it was the one that encouraged people to send money to it for banking purposes.
Eswatini Observer Managing Editor Mbongeni Mbingo raised a concern on the snail’s pace the banks seemed to be taking when dealing with matters pertaining to fraud. Mbingo said Eswatini Bankers Association (EBA) last week launched a Fraud Awareness Campaign. According to Mbingo, as of today, nothing had been forthcoming from that launch. He said it was concerning to see that banks were slow in addressing such matters yet they were dealing with unscrupulous scammers, who were ruthless in taking advantage of the technological advancements to prey on Emaswati.
The Nation Editor Bheki Makhubu called upon senior bankers and all stakeholders to be aware of what the Facata Scam operated. He said it was true that about 40 people had been arrested regarding this syndicate. However, he felt that the mastermind behind this was still on the loose. Makhubu was of the view that it was impossible for 40 people to think the same way. There was a kingpin behind this thing, who coordinated everything.
Makhubu also blamed banks for allowing money to be lost through Ecsponent. He also blamed the banks for blaming the media when they exposed the syndicates that stole money from Emaswati.
FNB Chief Risk Officer Gugu Matiwane stated that there was a need for more engagements on fraud awareness to Emaswati. Matiwane mentioned that there was a growing trend, not only in Eswatini, where people had taken defrauding other people as a job. She said companies had been set up internationally, with an intention to scam other people in other jurisdiction. She said if they were raising awareness, they needed to do more. She agreed with Makhubu when he said such things could not be done by one person alone, but it was done by groups of people, working together.
