Update on FNB Bank account closure

Last year, First National Bank (FNB) announced its decision to withdraw services to businesses within the cryptocurrency industry in South Africa. This was part of a reassessment of its operations within the cryptocurrency and digital asset space.

We can confirm that Luno, along with other similar businesses, is affected by this decision. FNB will withdraw services from cryptocurrency platforms, including Luno, effective 31 March 2020.

The changeover will be seamless and operations will not be affected. Customers with FNB accounts will still be able to make deposits from any South African bank, including FNB, to our Standard Bank account, and withdraw your money to any bank in South Africa, including FNB. We have also just launched instant deposits with PayU so you can fund your ZAR wallet instantly.

If you are an FNB customer and have Luno saved as a payment beneficiary on your FNB account, we ask that you update it to Luno’s Standard Bank account before making any future deposits. If you’re unable to do this in time, your deposit will be returned to your bank account.

If you encounter an issue when depositing to Luno using a saved beneficiary, you may need to update the beneficiary account with our Standard Bank account details. You can manually add our new Standard Bank details or select the public beneficiary “LUNO (STD)” to make the deposit. For more details about updating your beneficiaries, see here.

In the absence of formal regulations, banks will continue to assess their exposure to cryptocurrencies. Luno is committed to working with the South African Reserve Bank and collaborating with other regulators to ensure they are prepared to embrace this change to our financial infrastructure.

We need to remember that cryptocurrencies are very new and so this move is not unique to South Africa while regulation across the globe continues to be shaped; it is one of the biggest challenges crypto companies face globally.

FAQs

How does this decision affect me as a Luno customer?

We don’t anticipate this decision having any impact on our current or future customers. If you are an FNB customer, if you have Luno saved as a payment beneficiary on your FNB account, we ask that you update it before making any future deposits. If you’re unable to do this in time, your deposit will be returned to your bank account.

Can I still deposit and withdraw into my Luno Wallet from my FNB bank account after this change takes effect?

Yes, you will still be able to deposit or withdraw using your FNB account but you will need to deposit into Luno’s Standard Bank account. Until the 31st of March 2020 you can still directly deposit to Luno’s FNB account.

Can I still buy crypto with Luno?

Yes, you can. This announcement has no impact on your ability to use the instant buy/sell and exchange as you normally would.

Will I need to change any of my Luno account settings once this change comes into effect?

No. customers can continue to withdraw funds from Luno to their FNB bank accounts. Hence no need to update their bank beneficiaries saved on Luno (for ZAR withdrawals).

I used to have instant deposits and withdrawals when depositing or withdrawing from my FNB account and Luno’s, how can I maintain this?

If you were previously depositing from your personal FNB account into our FNB account, you would have had near-instant withdrawals. In order to maintain the speed of your withdrawals, you should deposit from your personal Standard Bank account into our Standard bank account.

Following our automated withdrawal improvements, Standard Bank account holders will receive their rands within minutes. Customers using other South African banks are able to request withdrawals for immediate processing, which will be subject to the standard processing time required for all inter-bank transactions. Instant payments will soon be added to the Luno platform for non-Standard Bank customers at a low additional fee.

We’ve also recently launched a feature that allows our South African Customers to make near-instant deposits using PayU. Find more information here.