FSCA Fines African Bank R700,000 Over Misleading #KeFestive Social Media Campaign

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority has imposed an administrative penalty of R700,000 on African Bank Limited, announced on 22 April 2025, following a finding that the bank's #KeFestive social media marketing campaign misleadingly portrayed a loan product as an investment. The penalty comprises R500,000 payable immediately and R200,000 suspended for a period of two years.

The #KeFestive campaign, a TikTok post featuring a well-known public figure in December 2023, was found by the authority to have presented credit as something other than what it legally is.

FOUR PROVISIONS OF CONDUCT STANDARD BREACHED

The FSCA found that African Bank had contravened four specific provisions of Conduct Standard 3 of 2020, which is the Conduct Standard for Banks issued under the Financial Sector Regulation Act. The breached sections were 6(1), 6(3)(a), 6(3)(b) and 6(9), which require banks to ensure that advertising is clear, fair, factually correct and not misleading, and to have processes for advertisements to be approved by a person of appropriate seniority and expertise. Conduct Standard 3 of 2020 was developed to establish minimum standards of conduct for banks in their dealings with customers, covering product disclosure, marketing practices, and complaint handling.

AFRICAN BANK AND THE FSCA

African Bank Limited is a South African retail bank specialising in unsecured lending, offering personal loans and related credit products to individuals.

The FSCA's mandate under the Financial Sector Regulation Act of 2017 includes the promotion of fair treatment of customers and the protection of consumers from conduct that could cause them financial harm. Administrative penalties are one of the tools available to the authority to enforce these outcomes, alongside public censures, licence conditions, and referrals to other regulatory bodies.

The FSCA said African Bank cooperated fully during the investigation and took prompt remedial action to address the concerns raised. The two-year suspension period on the deferred R200,000 is conditional on no similar contraventions occurring during that time.