What You Don't Know Will Cost You: The Hidden Side of Business Banking Fees in South Africa

As an entrepreneur, your energy and attention is focused everywhere giving time and effort to managing your bank statements to analysing how your business performs relatively. It is not only time consuming but it also limits your capacity to fully understand how banking really works and how to avoid unnecessary hidden fees that cost you. 

Shocking right? But really what are these costs, and why are you paying them? Are there ways to minimize them? Well, yes there is a solution to avoid it. Let's take a look! 

The Hidden Fees Lurking in Your Business Account

1. Unclear Account Fees
Some banks charge you simply for having a business account — whether you use it or not. These fees are often deducted monthly or annually without much notice. And what do you get in return? That’s not always clear. There’s rarely a transparent breakdown of what the “account fee” includes — it’s just there, eating into your bottom line.

2. Transfer & Transaction Fees
Whether you're paying staff, suppliers, or subscriptions — each EFT or card swipe can come with a small fee. Over time, those R2 or R5 charges add up, especially for high-volume SMEs. These are the invisible cuts to your cash flow.

3. Debit Order & Incident Fees
Every time a debit order is processed — for bills, SaaS tools, or loan repayments — some banks take a little more off the top. And if the debit fails due to insufficient funds? Expect to pay even more. It's a double penalty for businesses trying to manage tight cash cycles.

4. Card Replacement Fees
Lose your business card once? That’s a fee. Lose it again? Some banks increase the charge. The costs rise quietly, especially if your team shares cards or misplaces them often. Worse, many founders don’t even realise the price is escalating.

5. International Transfer Fees
Doing cross-border business? That’s where things get even fuzzier. Hidden FX markups, SWIFT charges, and slow transfer times all cost you — in ways most banks won’t clearly disclose until it’s too late.

6. Other funny fees
It's not uncommon to see SMS fees, balance inquiry fees, PIN change fees, or other funny fees. We believe banks should bake in these fees to give customers a better experience without having to worry if a particular action triggers yet another banking fee.

Why This Happens

The problem isn’t just the banking fees — it’s the opacity. Legacy banks have turned obfuscation into an art form. You’re told you're paying an "admin fee," a "monthly maintenance fee," or a "processing cost" — but what do these actually mean? Spoiler: most customers (and even some bank staff) couldn’t tell you. These vague terms are designed to blur the lines and keep you from asking tough questions.

To figure out what you’re really paying, you’re forced to dig through 20-page fee schedules in dense PDFs or spend 45 minutes navigating a call center. And even then, you’ll probably walk away with more questions than answers.

But here’s the reality: if you're running a small business in South Africa, you don’t have the time to become a forensic accountant just to understand your own bank charges. You’ve got better things to do, like growing your business.

We Sparked a Conversation (and Some Fireworks)

We posted about this on social media not too long ago, and emotions ran high. Business owners chimed in, confirming what we already suspected: bank fees are still incredibly confusing, and most banks aren’t eager to clarify them. We’ll be honest: in our original post, we made a calculation mistake. Yep, despite our best efforts, we got one of the totals wrong. And that’s exactly the point. If we, as a fintech team analyzing this professionally, can slip up when piecing together the real costs… how on earth is a typical SME owner supposed to make sense of it? This is exactly why we made this visual, to pull the curtain back and expose what the actual, all-in monthly costs of SA business banking really are.

What You Can Do About It

Here’s how to regain control:

• Check your statements regularly. Look out for fees you don’t understand and ask for clarity.

• Use your e-banking or digital channels to avoid third-party fees.

• Ensure you have sufficient funds before debit orders go off. Avoid bounce penalties.

• Choose financial tools and banks that disclose fees upfront.

Zazu’s Take

At Zazu, we believe transparency isn’t optional, it’s a right. That’s why we’ve built a business account that gives you:

• Simple pricing

• Pricing and products are clearly bundled

• No separate charges for inactivity or hidden monthly deductions

• No funny fees

No surprises. No hidden costs. Just modern, founder-friendly banking that respects your time, energy, and money.

📌 Sign up today at get-zazu.com and stay in control of your financial future.