South Africa's National Financial Ombud Scheme and its complaint data

What the NFO is

The National Financial Ombud Scheme South Africa NPC says it is an independent body that resolves complaints against financial service providers. It works through a Banking and Credit Division, a Non-Life Division and a Life Division. It is recognised by the Ombud Council under reference OC/001/24 ¹.

Daily Maverick reported on 8 June 2026 that the NFO brought together the banking ombud, the credit ombud, the short-term insurance ombud and the long-term insurance ombud, which had operated separately ⁴. An earlier Daily Maverick report, dated 9 March 2025, said the scheme had marked its first anniversary the week before ⁵.

The Ombud Council lists four recognised schemes. They are the NFO, the Office of the Pension Funds Adjudicator, the FAIS Ombud for complaints about financial advisers and intermediaries, and the JSE Ombud ⁷. Each scheme handles its own sector, so NFO figures cover banking, credit and insurance only ^1,7.

How a complaint reaches the NFO

• The consumer first complains directly to the bank, insurer or credit provider ⁹.
• If still dissatisfied, the consumer can complain to the NFO in writing on the prescribed form, by telephone or in person ².
• If the consumer had not raised the matter with the firm, the firm is asked to respond in writing within 21 working days ².
• After investigating, the ombud may issue a ruling or make a recommendation ².
• The NFO says receipt of a complaint suspends any applicable time-barring provisions until the complaint is withdrawn or finalised ³.
• A complainant is not obliged to use the NFO and can go to court or another forum instead ³.

Case volumes and money returned in 2025

The NFO Annual Report 2025 is listed on the NFO site ¹⁰. The PDF could not be opened for this page, so the 2025 figures below are as reported by Neesa Moodley in Daily Maverick on 8 June 2026 ⁴.

The article reported 50,065 cases opened and 34,277 closed in 2025. Average monthly openings rose from 3,585 in 2024 to 4,174 in 2025 ⁴.

What the complaints were about

In life insurance, Daily Maverick reported that funeral benefits made up 46.2% of complaints, life cover 33.9% and disability 7.4%, with declined claims the main driver ⁴. In banking, fraud was the largest category, and about 60% of the R53 million returned related to fraud refunds and awards ⁴.

In a release dated 16 September 2026, the NFO said fraud-related complaints in its non-bank Credit Division rose 46%, from 124 cases in 2025 to 181 cases in 2026 ⁶. The NFO home page carries a Banking and Credit item saying 62% of complaints lodged against credit companies were upheld in favour of consumers ¹. The period for that figure is not stated on the page ¹.

Two first-year figures

Published first-year figures differ. The NFO home page says R328.5 million was returned in its first year ¹, and the 8 June 2026 Daily Maverick report gives the same figure ⁴. A Daily Maverick report dated 9 March 2025 gave R416 million in its headline and said the scheme dealt with 40,859 cases over the past year ⁵. The article body does not explain the R416 million figure or its period ⁵. Both are shown here as published.

The NFO started a semiannual Trend Report series in September 2026. The first covers January to June 2026 ⁸.