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Contract reading

What RMB legally published, but does not want you to read

Every clause below is published by RMB itself, on its own website, today. The finding is not that the text exists. It is the distance between what a client is shown and what a client agreed to. Read from its own documents on .

Contracting entity: FirstRand Bank Limited

bonus lockhidden feedeemed acceptancedispute windowwithdrawalsaccount closurecredit facilityhome loaninterest ratekyc freeze

RMB Private Bank is a division of FirstRand Bank Limited, not a company of its own. You get 30 days to report a transaction you did not make, and then the statement is final. Fraud done with your PIN or your phone is your loss, and you must prove you were not careless. RMB can take what you owe out of any account you hold with it, without telling you first.

Back to RMB

Contract risk

Harder than average
5.5/10

Where this contract sitsHow far this contract goes, overall. Under 2 is nothing beyond the ordinary; 6 to 9 means several clauses put money you have already earned at risk; 9 and above reads as designed to make payout refusable.

0510
CriticalClauses that can cost you money you have already earned or deposited, or that remove your ability to challenge it.
4
FlaggedEvery clause worth knowing about, at all three severities. Ordinary terms that every broker has are not counted.
22
DocumentsHow many of the broker's own legal files this reading is based on. Each one was downloaded and hashed on the date shown.
224
ContradictionsPlaces where a promise the broker makes in public is not kept by the clause that governs it.
4

How the 22 break downThe same flagged clauses, split by how much each one can cost you. Severity is our reading of the clause, not the broker's label.

Critical4
Warning16
Notice2

section 27 of 37is where the deepest clause sits, 73% of the way into the document it is in

The numbers in this contractFigures taken from this broker's own clauses, so the labels differ from broker to broker. The four in the panel above are the same on every report.

1 of these 4 figures comes from a clause we rate critical, which means it can take your money or your profit rather than only delay it.

Critical30 daysTime to complain. Jump to the clause this comes from.Thirty days to report a transaction you did not make80%Bonus requirement. Jump to the clause this comes from.The home loan reward pays only if you stay in debt2In the contract. Jump to the clause this comes from.Two complimentary lounge visits that are not extra visits20 working daysFee you were not shown. Jump to the clause this comes from.The card contract names nine fees and prices none of them

What the documents say

22 clauses worth knowing about, worst first, each quoted from RMB's own files

01

You get 30 days from the statement date to tell RMB about a transaction you did not make. Miss that window and clause 12.1.3 of the credit card terms makes the statement final and binding on you.

Why this matters

A card fraud you spot on day 35 is a fraud you now own. RMB can treat the debit as yours. The general terms say it is not responsible for your loss.

Exhibit 1CriticalHarder than usual30 days

Should you have a dispute in respect of the monthly account statement, you must advise us in writing within thirty (30) calendar days of the statement date. Unless you let us know in writing that there is an error on the monthly account statement, the statement sent to you will be final and binding.
Clause 12.1.3 in RMBPB Credit Card Account and Credit Facility - Terms and Conditions
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference
Set against a regulated standard: FCA (UK)

Firms licensed by the FCA must refund an unauthorised payment, and a customer can look back as far as 13 months from the debit. RMB gives you 30 days from the statement date, then treats your silence as agreement.

RMB is not licensed by this regulator, so this is a comparison of practice, not a finding of any breach.

  • Worse together with Exhibit 2One clause decides you carry the loss and the other decides you have only 30 days to say so.
02

RMB does not cover a transaction made with your PIN or your device credentials, even when you did not make it. Clause 7.2 of the credit card terms puts that loss on you alone.

Why this matters

If someone gets your PIN or unlocks your phone, the money is gone and RMB owes you nothing. Report the card late and RMB calls that negligence, so you must then prove you were careful.

Exhibit 2CriticalHarder than usual

Any unauthorized transactions made and/or authorized using the PIN functionality and/or device credentials will not be covered by us and will be for your sole responsibility.
Clause 7.2 in RMBPB Credit Card Account and Credit Facility - Terms and Conditions
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference
Set against a regulated standard: FCA (UK)

Firms licensed by the FCA must refund an unauthorised payment unless they can show the customer was grossly negligent. Here the burden runs the other way, and you prove you were not negligent.

RMB is not licensed by this regulator, so this is a comparison of practice, not a finding of any breach.

03

RMB can combine every account you hold with it and take what you owe out of any of them. Its general terms say it can do that without telling you first.

Why this matters

Money you set aside for something else can go to cover arrears on another product. You find out when you look at the balance, not before.

Exhibit 3CriticalHarder than usual

If the law allows, we have the right, without notice to you, to combine any or all solutions that you may have with us and to set off any amount that you owe us against any amount you have in any of your solutions.
Clause 14 in RMB Private Bank General - Terms and Conditions
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference
  • Worse together with Exhibit 11A slip on one FirstRand product puts you in breach, and the set-off clause then reaches the money in all the others.
04

RMB can close your revolving credit facility for a reason that it tells you, in advance, it will not give you. Clause 7 of the revolving facility terms says exactly that.

Why this matters

Credit you were relying on can disappear with no explanation you can argue against. The overdraft version of the same contract does promise you a reason, so this is a choice RMB made.

Exhibit 4CriticalRarely seen

You can end this facility at any time by paying the full amount you owe us including interest, fees and charges. We may close this facility if you are in breach or for any valid reason, which we will not provide you with.
Clause 7 in Revolving Facility - Terms and Conditions (May 2021)
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference
05

To collect the Home Rewards milestone money you must still owe 80% of your home loan at year three, 60% at year six and 40% at year nine. Pay your bond down faster and you get nothing.

Why this matters

Overpaying your bond saves you far more interest than these rewards pay out. The reward quietly pushes you the other way, towards keeping the debt that earns RMB its interest.

Exhibit 5WarningRarely seen80%

The average outstanding balance in the Anniversary Month** must be at 80% or more at year 3, 60% or more at year 6 and 40% or more at year 9 of your Facility amount (The average outstanding balance for the Anniversary Month** divided by the maximum available limit).
Clause Rules for Milestone Reward in Switch Home Loan with Home Rewards - Terms and Conditions
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Buried at section 27 of 37 in the Switch Home Loan with Home Rewards - Terms and Conditions, 73% of the way through.

What happens, and when

The stages this clause runs through, taken from the broker's own document
TriggerWhat the broker may then doClause
Year 3You must still owe 80% or more of the facility on average that month to be paid R3 000.Rules for Milestone Reward
Year 6You must still owe 60% or more to be paid R5 000.Rules for Milestone Reward
Year 9You must still owe 40% or more to be paid R7 000.Rules for Milestone Reward
  • Worse together with Exhibit 11The milestone also needs every FirstRand account in good standing, so a problem anywhere in the group costs you the reward as well.
06

RMB publishes the same home loan switch reward in two live documents that disagree. One says the offer is valid for applications from 19 February 2022 to 30 November 2025, then says it does not apply to switch applications in exactly those dates.

Why this matters

You cannot tell from RMB's own terms whether your switch qualifies for a reward worth up to eB61 000. If RMB declines it, the document you relied on also holds the sentence refusing it.

Exhibit 6WarningRarely seen

This value proposition is valid on all applications captured from: 19 February 2022 until 30 November 2025
Clause The Value Proposition in RMB Switch your Home Loan and Receive eB61 000 - Terms and Conditions
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

RMB's lounge and home loan offers do not survive their own terms

RMB's lounge page invites you to earn more complimentary visits while clause 33.1 of the card contract charges a fee for every entry. A campaign titled around two complimentary lounge visits turns out to take both out of the ten you already had. The switch home loan reward, worth up to eB61 000, is published in a document that grants and then excludes the same 45 month window.

Promise against contract1 clause flagged

A campaign called Unlock two complimentary lounge visits gives you no extra visits. Clause 3.4 says the two come out of the 10 you already had for the year.

Why this matters

You can put R100 000 through the card chasing a reward you already held. The campaign moves nothing except where the visits are counted from.

Exhibit 8WarningHarder than usual2

Unlock two complimentary lounge visits on your RMB Private Bank Credit Card
Clause Campaign Name in RMB Private Bank Credit Card International Lounge Campaign Terms and Conditions
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

RMB's card agreement lists its fees and prices none of them

The RMB Private Bank credit card agreement charges an account fee, a facility service fee, card issuing, delivery, replacement, dispute and voucher fees, and states the amount of none of them. Prices live in a separate guide that RMB can revise on 20 business days notice, and a fee once debited is not refundable. Every airport lounge entry is charged up front and reversed only if you meet criteria held on a web page RMB can change.

Cost disclosure3 clauses flagged

Every time you walk into a SLOW Lounge, RMB charges a fee to your card. Clause 33.1 reverses it only if you meet criteria that live on a website RMB can change whenever it likes.

Why this matters

Access sold to you as a benefit arrives as a debit. Whether it is reversed depends on rules that are not in your contract, so dropping a reward level leaves the fee in place.

Exhibit 7WarningHarder than usual

Every entry into the Lounges is charged for and will reflect as a fee on your Credit, Fusion or Debit card statement. The fee will only be reversed if you meet the qualifying criteria which are available on our website and may be updated from time to time.
Clause 33.1 in RMBPB Credit Card Account and Credit Facility - Terms and Conditions
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference
  • Same clause as Exhibit 8The lounge campaign is sold against the same visit allowance that this clause charges for.

The credit card agreement charges you an account fee, a facility service fee, card issuing, delivery and replacement fees, a dispute fee and a voucher fee. It gives the amount of none of them and sends you to a separate pricing guide.

Why this matters

You sign the agreement without seeing a single price in it. RMB can reset those prices on 20 business days notice, and once a fee is debited it is not refundable.

Exhibit 9WarningStandard wording20 working days

A Credit Card Account Fee will be charged for the administration and maintenance of your Credit Card Account.
Clause 13.1 in RMBPB Credit Card Account and Credit Facility - Terms and Conditions
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

When RMB moves a purchase onto a promotional budget plan, the move takes three to five working days. You pay your normal interest rate during that wait, and clause 5 says you get no refund for the difference.

Why this matters

The delay is RMB's processing time, not yours, and you carry the cost of it. The same wording appears in the iStore, medical and vet campaigns, so it is the standing arrangement.

Exhibit 13WarningHarder than usual5 working days

The transfer from straight to budget may take up to three (3) to five (5) working days, during which time, customers will be charged their normal personalised interest rate. Customers will not be refunded for the difference between their personalised interest rate and the promotional interest rate for the period during which the transaction is moved from straight to budget.
Clause The Campaign deal, item 5 in RMB Credit Card and iStore Campaign - Terms and Conditions
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Where it sits: section 3 of 22 in the RMB Credit Card and iStore Campaign - Terms and Conditions, near the start.

  • Same clause as Exhibit 14Both findings come out of the same transfer from straight facility to budget plan.

RMB can shut a facility for a reason it says it will withhold

Clause 7 of RMB's revolving facility terms states that it may close the facility for a valid reason which it will not give you. The overdraft version of the same contract promises an explanation, so the silence is deliberate. Send money abroad through Globba and RMB keeps its fee even when the cash reaches an invalid account or is never collected within 30 days.

Getting money out1 clause flagged

Send money abroad with Globba and RMB keeps its fee even if the cash goes to an invalid account or is never collected. Clause 6.5 says so, and clause 6.6 says cancelling does not get the fee back.

Why this matters

RMB does not check the recipient's account details or identity before sending. If the money bounces back 30 days later, you have paid for a transfer that never happened.

Exhibit 16WarningHarder than usual30 days

The fees and charges will still be debited from the Client’s Nominated Bank Account even if the funds are sent to an invalid account or are not collected by the Beneficiary within 30 days of the transaction.
Clause 6.5 in RMB Globba - Terms and Conditions
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

RMB's rewards pay out only if you keep the debt

The Home Rewards milestone needs you to still owe 80% of your home loan at year three, 60% at year six and 40% at year nine, so paying your bond down early disqualifies you. A vet bill payment break still charges interest daily and requires you to pay it during the break. On the switch campaign, not replying to one text message locks in a default offer you can never change.

Rewards with conditions2 clauses flagged

RMB offers a three month payment break on vet bills moved onto a budget plan. Interest still builds daily from day one, and clause 4 says you must pay that interest during the break.

Why this matters

What stops is the capital instalment, not the bill. The deferral also sits on top of the twelve month term, so you are repaying for fifteen months.

Exhibit 14WarningHarder than usual

During the first three (3) statement cycles, no instalments will be due. However, interest will be charged from the date the transaction is transferred to budget and will accrue daily at the applicable promotional interest rate.
Clause 4 in RMBPB Credit Card Pet Budget Campaign - Terms and Conditions
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Where it sits: section 3 of 21 in the RMBPB Credit Card Pet Budget Campaign - Terms and Conditions, near the start.

The Switch Campaign makes you pick a reward by replying to an SMS. Clause 2.1.1 says that if you do not reply in time, RMB applies the default offer, and clause 2.1.2 says you can never change it.

Why this matters

A missed message locks you out of an instalment reward worth up to R8 000 for a fee rebate instead. Close the account early and RMB can claw back what it already paid you.

Exhibit 17WarningHarder than usual

If no response is received from the customer within the time period provided, the default offer of “monthly Account fee reversals” will be applied.
Clause 2.1.1 in RMB PRIVATE BANK Switch Campaign - Terms and Conditions
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

RMB treats everything you hold with FirstRand as one pool

RMB's general terms let it combine every account you hold and set off what you owe without notice to you. A single arrears anywhere in FirstRand, or a salary that stops landing in the linked account, puts your overdraft and revolving facility in breach. An additional cardholder you added for convenience becomes a co-principal debtor for the whole balance.

Reach across your accounts3 clauses flagged

If your monthly income stops landing in your linked RMB account, you are in breach of your overdraft and your revolving facility. So is any FirstRand account of yours that goes into arrears.

Why this matters

Change jobs or split your salary and the whole outstanding balance can fall due at once. RMB can also put a hold on the facility with no notice at all.

Exhibit 11WarningHarder than usual15 days

If your monthly income is not deposited into your primary RMB Private Bank transactional account linked to this Credit Agreement every month for the duration of your Credit Agreement;
Clause 6 in Overdraft Credit Agreement - Terms and Conditions (May 2021)
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Give your partner or child an additional card and they get unlimited access to the account. Clause 4.7 also makes them liable as co-principal debtor for everything owed if you do not pay.

In plain words

Jointly and severally liable means each person can be made to pay the whole amount alone. If the broker treats two accounts as linked, it can ask either holder for all of it, not half each.

Why this matters

The person you added for convenience can be pursued for the full balance, not only what they spent. Nothing in the clause caps their exposure to their own transactions.

Exhibit 12WarningRarely seen

If the account holder does not pay RMB Private Bank in full for the transactions, the cardholder will be jointly and severally liable to RMB Private Bank as co-principal debtor for all amounts and any other obligations arising out of these rules.
Clause 4.7 in RMB Private Bank Fusion Account - Terms and Conditions
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Buried at section 51 of 82 in the RMB Private Bank Fusion Account - Terms and Conditions, 62% of the way through.

RMB can change its general terms at any time, and if you do not dispute the change before it starts, RMB treats you as having agreed. For the PayPal service the changes take effect immediately.

Why this matters

You are expected to read the terms again each time you use the service. The card rules give you 20 days to object, but the PayPal rules give you no window at all.

Exhibit 18WarningHarder than usual

Unless you dispute the change before the date the change applies, we can assume that you agreed to the change(s).
Clause 1 in RMB Private Bank General - Terms and Conditions
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Every route to arguing with RMB closes faster than the loss arrives

You have 30 days from the statement date to dispute a transaction before RMB's credit card terms make that statement final and binding. Fraud carried out with your PIN or your device is excluded from cover altogether, and late reporting counts as negligence that you must then disprove. The complaint ladder ends in a six month cut-off, and the contract names an ombud scheme RMB's own website has stopped pointing at.

Challenge windows2 clauses flagged

For a PayPal top-up or withdrawal, clause 9.2 says RMB will under no circumstances take up any query or dispute unless you first give it the transaction reference number.

Why this matters

Your right to complain depends on you keeping a number RMB sends you once. A payment that went astray becomes unarguable if you cannot produce it.

Exhibit 15WarningHarder than usual

It is very important that you record the aforementioned number and keep it safe for as long as necessary, since we will under no circumstances whatsoever entertain any query, dispute or any other communication relating to a Top-up or Withdraw transaction without you first providing us with the corresponding reference number.
Clause 9.2 in RMBPB PayPal - Terms and Conditions
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Clause 18.4 tells you to take an unresolved credit card complaint to the Ombudsman for Banking Services within six months. RMB Private Bank's own website now points customers to the National Financial Ombud instead.

Why this matters

You have a hard six month deadline to escalate, and the contract names a scheme that has since been absorbed into another one. Follow the contract and you lose time finding the right door.

Exhibit 20NoticeHarder than usual

FAIS prescribes that you may then submit your complaint to the FAIS Ombudsman or Ombudsman for Banking Services in writing within six (6) months, with the supporting documentation and the reference number supplied.
Clause 18.4 in RMBPB Credit Card Account and Credit Facility - Terms and Conditions
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference
Our own capture of rmb.co.za, taken on Oct 15, 2026The claim, on RMB customer complaints page, written complaint undertakingVisit this page on the broker's siteDownload the full size image file

What happens, and when

The stages this clause runs through, taken from the broker's own document
TriggerWhat the broker may then doClause
Day 0You submit a written complaint to RMB.18.1
5 working daysIf nothing arrives, you have to phone RMB to check your complaint was even received.18.2
6 weeksIf it is still unresolved, RMB owes you a written explanation and you may escalate.18.4
6 monthsYour right to take the complaint to the ombud runs out.18.4

RMB Private Bank and FNB change places inside the same document

RMB and RMB Private Bank are divisions of FirstRand Bank Limited, registration number 1929/001225/06, and so is First National Bank. One RMB Private Bank switch campaign tells you the account you opened is an account with First National Bank, and a credit card campaign branded RMB Private Bank is named an FNB campaign on its first line. The legal entity never changes, but the service desk and complaint address do.

Who you contract with1 clause flagged

RMB Private Bank's own campaign terms repeatedly turn into FNB terms. One switch campaign tells you the RMB Private Bank account you took is an account with First National Bank.

Why this matters

You contract with FirstRand Bank Limited either way, but the brand decides which service desk, which rules and which complaint address apply to you. The documents do not settle it.

Exhibit 21WarningHarder than usual

Please read this document carefully as it records the terms and conditions attached to the RMB Private Bank Fusion or Current Account (“Account”) offer that you have taken with First National Bank a division of FirstRand Bank Limited ("RMB Private Bank").
Clause Preamble in RMB PRIVATE BANK Switch Campaign - Terms and Conditions
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Out of date paperwork can block the instruction that gets you out

RMB's termination clause lets it refuse an instruction to transfer your available funds and close the account where your information is false, inadequate or merely outdated. Accounts that fail the FICA check are frozen and cannot transact at all. South African law requires the verification, but the breadth here reaches the exit as well as the entrance.

Document checks1 clause flagged

If your identity documents are missing, wrong or merely out of date, RMB can refuse your instruction to move your available funds and close the account. Accounts that fail the FICA check are frozen outright.

Why this matters

The step that gets you out of the bank is the step RMB can refuse. Updating your proof of address becomes the condition for reaching your own money.

Exhibit 19WarningStandard wording

If you fail to do so or provide false or inadequate information or if the information you provide is outdated, we can refuse to enter into a relationship with you, refuse to carry out an instruction (including an instruction to transfer available funds and close a solution), suspend access to your participation in and the use of any rewards and/or customer benefits associated with any solution, restrict access to your solution, our channels and interfaces by placing a hold on your solution and can also terminate our relationship with you.
Quoted in Prevention of criminal activities and termination of the customer relationship
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference
Set against a regulated standard: FSCA (South Africa)

South African banks must identify and verify customers under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, so a freeze for missing documents is expected. What is broader here is that outdated information is enough, and that the blocked instruction includes closing the account.

RMB is not licensed by this regulator, so this is a comparison of practice, not a finding of any breach.

An unused RMB account pays a fee nobody has quoted you

Twelve consecutive months without activity makes an RMB account dormant, and clause 2.6.4 charges a monthly fee for the whole time it sits inactive or dormant without naming the amount. When the balance reaches nil, RMB closes the account and interest stops. You keep the right to claim what was left for 60 years, which is generous, but the fee runs first.

In plain words

Dormancy means an account left unused.

Dormancy1 clause flagged

Stop using your Fusion account and RMB charges a monthly fee for as long as it sits inactive or dormant. Clause 2.6.4 does not say how much that fee is.

Why this matters

A small forgotten balance is eaten by a fee you were never quoted, until nothing is left and RMB closes the account. After closure the money stops earning interest.

Exhibit 10WarningHarder than usual

We will charge a monthly fee on your account during the time it is deemed inactive or dormant.
Clause 2.6.4 in RMB Private Bank Fusion Account - Terms and Conditions
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Where it sits: section 27 of 82 in the RMB Private Bank Fusion Account - Terms and Conditions, 33% of the way through.

What happens, and when

The stages this clause runs through, taken from the broker's own document
TriggerWhat the broker may then doClause
12 months without activityRMB treats the account as dormant, along with any card or facility linked to it.Definitions
While inactive or dormantA monthly fee is charged against the balance, with no amount given in the contract.2.6.4
Balance reaches nilRMB closes the account after notifying you, and interest stops.2.6.5
60 years from closureYour right to claim the money left at closure runs out.2.6.6

RMB is a licensed bank whose deposit cover is left unquantified

FirstRand Bank Limited is regulated under the South African Banks Act, holds FSP licence 664 for Rand Merchant Bank and is a registered credit provider under NCRCP20. Deposits may fall within the Corporation for Deposit Insurance scheme up to a limit of cover that clause 29 declines to state, pointing you to the Reserve Bank instead. For anything beyond the contract, read the separate scam investigation.

Licensing and cover1 clause flagged

Your money may be covered by the Corporation for Deposit Insurance. Clause 29 of the relationship agreement says the cover runs up to a limit, and then sends you to the Reserve Bank's website to find out what the limit is.

Why this matters

The number that tells you how much of your balance is protected is the one number the clause leaves out. You cannot work out your exposure from the contract alone.

Exhibit 22NoticeStandard wording

Qualifying products held with FirstRand Bank Limited may fall within qualifying deposits covered by the Corporation for Deposit Insurance (CODI) up to the limit of cover and if held by a qualifying depositor, as specified in the Deposit Insurance Regulations made in terms of the Financial Sector Regulation Act 9 of 2017.
Clause 29 in FirstRand Bank Limited Relationship Agreement - Terms and Conditions
Read from the broker's site on Open the reference

Where the marketing and the contract disagree

A promise made in public, set against the clause that governs it

01

The lounge page calls the visits complimentary while the credit card contract charges a fee for every entry and only reverses it on conditions.

Said in public, in English

Move up a reward level and earn even more complimentary Lounge visits.

SLOW & Bidvest Premier Lounges marketing page, opening section

In the contract · clause 33.1

Every entry into the Lounges is charged for and will reflect as a fee on your Credit, Fusion or Debit card statement. The fee will only be reversed if you meet the qualifying criteria which are available on our website and may be updated from time to time.

02

RMB's complaints page promises an outcome within 20 working days, while the credit card contract allows six weeks before it owes you a written answer.

Said in public, in English

A notification of the outcome of the investigation will follow within 20 working days.

RMB customer complaints page, written complaint undertaking

We took a picture of this page. It is shown once, with the finding it belongs to. See our capture of rmb.co.za

In the contract · clause 18.4

If your complaint is unresolved within six (6) weeks or not resolved to your satisfaction, RMB Private Bank Credit Card will provide you with an explanation and reasoning for the decision taken, in writing.

03

The same document grants the switch reward for a date range and then excludes switch applications across exactly that range.

Said in public, in English

This value proposition is valid on all applications captured from: 19 February 2022 until 30 November 2025

Eligibility statement on page 1 of the switch home loan reward terms

In the contract · clause Value Proposition Terms and Conditions

This Value Proposition is not applicable to Switch applications captured by the Bank on 19 February 2022 until 30 November 2025.

04

The campaign is titled around unlocking two extra lounge visits that clause 3.4 takes out of the allowance you already had.

Said in public, in English

Unlock two complimentary lounge visits on your RMB Private Bank Credit Card

Campaign name on page 1 of the international lounge campaign rules

In the contract · clause 3.4

3.4 The two complimentary visits are not in addition to the 10 annual visits. They are included within the 10 allocated visits for the calendar year.

The documents this reading is based on

224 files, all published by RMB. Each shows when we read it and a fingerprint of its wording.

WIKILIX keeps the copy of each file it read, and does not republish it: what is published is the fingerprint of its wording. Download the file yourself and hash its text, lowercased with runs of whitespace collapsed, and a matching fingerprint means the wording quoted above is still the wording RMB publishes.

How this reading was done

Every clause above was read out of a document RMB publishes itself

This reading was published on .

Documents
29 of 224downloaded from the broker's site, and 29 read in full
Pages opened
80pages walked to find those documents, footer links included
Older copies
1earlier versions downloaded, 1 identical to the copy we hold by fingerprint
Marketing pages
11public pages set against what the contract says
Position measured
5clauses whose position was counted: which numbered section of the document holds them, out of how many

Who the contract is with

FirstRand Bank Limited

You do not contract with a company called Rand Merchant Bank. RMB and RMB Private Bank are both divisions of FirstRand Bank Limited, registration number 1929/001225/06, a South African bank regulated under the Banks Act. The same company also trades as First National Bank and WesBank, and the documents move between those names without warning. One RMB Private Bank campaign defines your account as one you took with First National Bank. Rand Merchant Bank holds FSP licence 664 and credit provider registration NCRCP20, and deposits may be covered by the Corporation for Deposit Insurance up to a limit the terms do not state.

Quotations are copied verbatim from the documents named above, with the clause number and the page each one came from. Where a clause is quoted in another language, the original is shown first and the English is a translation.

The plain-language parts, what a clause means for a client, how ordinary it is, and how it reads against a regulated standard, are WIKILIX's analysis and are labelled as such on every card. This is a reading of public documents, not legal advice and not an allegation of wrongdoing.

In fairness, and what we could not check

A reader who knows the edges of the work can trust the middle of it

RMB publishes its pricing guides openly. We downloaded the RMB Private Bank Account pricing guide from a public page with no login and no account. The complaint route is named properly, with the National Credit Regulator, the National Consumer Tribunal and an ombud scheme all listed with contact details. The credit life cover on the card says plainly who underwrites it and that RMB earns a fee for selling it. Unclaimed money stays claimable for 60 years after an account closes, which is longer than most banks anywhere offer. The regulatory disclosure page names the licensed entity in one sentence instead of hiding it.

RMB publishes 224 legal files across rmb.co.za and rmbprivatebank.com. We read 24 of them in full and part of 2 more, and we did not open the rest. The ones we read are the account, card, credit, foreign exchange and general terms, which is where the money clauses sit. Six files linked from the legal pages are no longer there. Thirteen more are published as PDFs with no readable text in them, including the RMB Card terms, the PayShap terms and the RMBPB Visa+ terms. Two documents we did read came out badly. The Relationship Agreement lost most of its word spacing and the Wellness competition rules are scrambled, so we quoted neither. The Main Banked Rules decide which interest rate several campaigns give you, and we did not read that document. We found a public pricing guide that the document sweep missed, and we could not read its text either. No earlier version of any current document is available, except the credit card fraud claim form.

How to check any of this yourself

Every quote above links to the RMB file it came from. This is what to do with it.

Open the three stepsFind the words in the source, work out the fingerprint, and read what a difference does and does not prove.

Open the source and search for the words

Every quote has a link under it. Open the file, or the web page, and search it for the words we quote. The clause number next to the quote tells you where to look.

If the words are not there any more, the source may have changed after we read it. That is worth knowing too. We keep the date we read it, and a code worked out from its wording, so the quote stays checkable.

What a fingerprint is

A fingerprint is a code worked out from what a source says. Change one word and the code changes completely. We keep two codes for every file we read, and the panel on each source shows both.

The first is the code of the exact file we downloaded. The second is the code of its wording alone, with capital letters lowered and runs of spaces collapsed. When the same words are saved as a new file, the first code changes and the second one stays the same.

Only the first code can be worked out on your own computer. Save the file, then run one of these, putting the name of the file you saved where the example is. The panel on each source prints the command with that source's real file name already in it.

macOS or Linux:
  shasum -a 256 the-file-you-saved.pdf

Windows:
  certutil -hashfile the-file-you-saved.pdf SHA256

The two codes are different from each other, and they are not meant to match. Comparing one against the other proves nothing.

What a difference means, and what it does not

A different file code on its own proves nothing. A PDF saved again with a new date inside it is a new file saying exactly the same thing.

A different wording code means the words themselves changed. That is the one that matters, and it is why we keep it.

Even then, a change is not proof of bad faith. Companies update their documents. What this report says is what the document said on the day we read it, and every quote carries that date.

A source that is a web page and not a file has no file to save, so only the code of its wording is shown.

How this report is made

Every clause quoted above comes from a document RMB publishes on its own website, downloaded and hashed on the date shown, with the clause number and page recorded so any reader can check it. We do not allege anything the documents do not say, and we do not judge RMB on anything other than its own published terms and its own public marketing. Where a clause has a qualifier that softens it, the report says so. Last read Oct 15, 2026.

If you represent RMB and a clause has changed, been withdrawn, or is being read out of context, tell us and we will re-read the documents and update this page. Corrections from the broker are welcome and are published with the reading they change. Contact us.

This is a reading of a contract, not legal advice and not a ruling on RMB. Whether its licence is real and current is a separate check on the broker profile.

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