Johannesburg - Both Standard Bank and First National Bank have been found guilty of misleading advertising, according to a report on Friday.
Last month the banks accused each other of ambiguous
and unsubstantiated marketing and both approached the Advertising
Standards Authority (ASA) over adverts they believed were misleading to
consumers, the Star newspaper reported.
FNB was found to be misleading the public for its claim
that its Smart Zero account was the "first bank account in South Africa
with a zero monthly fee."
It found that other banks had offered this service in the past, including Standard Bank.
The authority also found that Standard Bank's posters
which read: "free cellphone banking, free telephone banking, and free
internet banking", were misleading as it did not inform consumers that
certain costs applied, like a subscription fee.