Debit order change from April 2026

[Hanno Labuschagne]

Debit order change from April 2026

The South African Reserve Bank and the Financial Sector Conduct Authority have confirmed that, effective 13 April 2026, the dispute windows for all debit order instruments will be standardised at 60 days.

“This will simplify disputability, especially for service providers using multiple collection instruments,” said Pieter Brand, the head of product at Hyphen.

 

[Lycanthrope]

He has a mad glint in his eye.

 

[FlashSA]

Cool. Now when your insurance company incorrectly debits you and you request a refund instead of reversing the debit order, they'll make you wait 60 days for that refund so that you don't double dip by reversing the DO after the refund.

So you either pay your bank charges to reverse an incorrect extraction that wasn't your fault or you wait 2 months to get your money back. Consumer loses once again.

 

[Swa]

Debit orders are a relic of the past. Why do we still not have authorisation for all charges on your account?

 

[Bad Ballie]

Debit Orders themselves need to be completely overhauled, Debit orders cannot be allowed to be open ended nor can increases be an automatic part of any debit order. Debit order have long been abused by both both Corporate entities and the banks themselves. Personally i no longer sign or authorize any debit orders and if any company demands a debit order I won't do business with them. EDIT: Of course the change greatly reduces the time you have to pick up a discrepancy and contest it, I doubt that was anything but intentional.