Absa Kenya is facing fresh criticism on X after a customer complained that she had been asked to call the bank for verification, only to remain on hold despite making several attempts.

In a post shared on June 26, Joy Muraya said she had been directed to call Absa for verification, but claimed the bank was not picking up despite repeated calls.

She said each call was costing her KSh100 per minute, while she remained on hold waiting for assistance.

“Absa telling me to call them for verification when they don’t pick up,” Muraya wrote, adding that she had called several times and continued paying for the calls without getting the matter resolved.

The post had attracted more than 43,000 views by the time of the screenshot, with users responding by sharing their own experiences with Absa and other banks.

Several users said the issue was common among customers living outside Kenya, where verification calls, account instructions and document requests often become difficult to complete remotely.

Another user said they had withdrawn their funds and stopped using Absa after allegedly receiving an email asking them to visit the bank’s offices with their identification documents while they were outside the country.

A different user said KCB had asked them to send paperwork through the nearest embassy, while they were living in Hungary, adding that the process was difficult because there was no Kenyan embassy nearby.

Another respondent said their mother was asked to produce the first passport she used to open her account, after which the family withdrew the money and closed the account.

Other users in the replies said they had experienced unresolved issues, high service charges and difficulty reaching customer care, while some advised Muraya to try other banking options with dedicated relationship managers.

The complaints mainly focused on customer verification, diaspora banking support, call waiting times and the cost of reaching bank support lines from outside Kenya.

Absa had not issued a visible response in the screenshot, while some users tagged the bank directly and asked it to address the matter.