First National Bank (FNB) has left thousands of its customers outraged after announcing a mid-year change to its eBucks earning rules, only four months after its standard annual update. The sudden policy shift — effective from November 2025 — has drawn heavy criticism from loyal clients, many of whom are now threatening to close their accounts.
While FNB has previously tweaked its list of retail partners during the year, its levelling criteria have traditionally been adjusted just once annually, typically following its banking fee revisions. This has given customers predictability — until now.
What Changed?
Under the new rules, Premier and Private clients will lose 2,500 points in the levelling system for activities that were previously easy to achieve, such as:
- Spending at least 80% of monthly transactions on a virtual card
- Exploring options under the Nav>Credit page
- Checking the “Track My Rewards” tab in the FNB app
To make up for the lost points, customers are being nudged toward FNB’s insurance offerings. The bank has increased points for insurance products by 3,000, but only if customers take out an FNB Life Customised product with a minimum combined cover of R4 million for Premier and R6 million for Private clients.
Meanwhile, Aspire account holders will face a new R5,000 minimum monthly spending requirement along with two additional behavioural banking conditions.
Customers Cry Foul
The backlash was immediate. Social media platforms were flooded with complaints from customers who said they felt blindsided by the sudden changes.
- “FNB shifting the eBucks earn rules just three months after their annual update is one of the most underhanded moves against customers, utterly pathetic,” wrote one.
- Another said: “Over 10 years with FNB. My family is moving to another bank.”
- A third complained: “What you guys are doing with eBucks is unethical…Never thought I’d look for another bank but now it’s the time.”
- A fourth added: “My family has been banking with you for three generations. Your bait-and-switch eBucks rule change has me planning a move.”
A quick search for “eBucks” on Thursday, 2 October 2025, revealed dozens more similar complaints.
The Device Contract Dilemma
The changes have especially frustrated those who signed up for 24-month device contracts through the FNB Connect platform. These deals offered a partial refund of monthly instalments in eBucks, depending on a customer’s reward level.
At Level 5, Premier clients could previously earn back 40% of their monthly device payment, Private Clients got 60%, and Private Wealth members received 100%. But with many customers set to drop two reward levels under the new criteria, their benefits will be slashed.
For example, a Premier client paying R500 per month would see their eBucks return shrink from R200 to R50. A Private Client with the same deal would drop from R300 to R75.
Critics have accused FNB of “moving the goalposts” and locking customers into contracts under one set of conditions, only to alter the rules months later. Some have called on the National Consumer Commission to investigate.
FNB Responds
In response to the uproar, FNB’s support team maintained that the changes are meant to “better reflect how our customers bank and spend today.”
“The recent updates are designed to balance fairness and value across the programme, but we’re always reviewing feedback like yours to improve,” the bank said in replies on social media.
When pressed on how the new levelling system undercuts the device contract benefit, FNB defended the programme as “market-leading” and stressed that customers still have ample opportunities to reach top reward levels.
“As a behavioural rewards programme, we focus on ensuring that the behaviours we incentivise deliver value both to our customers and to the bank,” the bank stated.
What’s Next?
For now, customers remain sceptical. Many argue that while FNB is within its rights to amend its terms at any time, the mid-year shift undermines the trust that customers have built in the bank’s loyalty programme.
With rival banks vying for disgruntled customers, FNB may soon learn whether its “behavioural banking” model still aligns with the behaviour of its most loyal clients.
