Unauthorised transaction

I have a credit card with Najm Finance since December 2011 and I have had no issues until recently. I received an SMS prompt on my mobile on July 9 at 7.46pm, saying that I made a purchase of GBP2,157 (Dh12,677) at the Apple Store. I then called their customer service, informing them that I had not authorised this charge. The agent then advised me to call back after two days to check whether the amount had been posted to my account. I contested this, saying that I am the credit card holder and I did not authorise the transaction. However, the agent said there was nothing they could do but wait for me to call back. I then requested for my credit card to be blocked.

On July 10, a Najm agent called to ask regarding the transaction and I confirmed that I did not authorise the charge so they should not post it to my account. I felt relieved because, just like other credit card companies, they called to verify about the suspicious transaction, and so I assumed that they would not post the charge.

To make sure that the charge was not posted, I called again on July 12. To my surprise, I was informed that the charge was posted and that I would now have to file for a dispute claim with the bank. I was also informed that there was another charge on the same date (July 9) for approximately Dh23,000 and that I would have to call back again after two days to check whether it had been posted. I then explained to the agent that this does not make any sense — I am the credit card holder, calling them to say that these charges are not authorised and that the second charge shouldn’t go through anyway because it is more than my credit limit. But I was not offered any resolution.

I have checked the transactions and it had been charged from the UK. I am appalled at the level of security and customer service because as a credit card holder, I now have to go through the process of disputing the charges where I am required to submit proof that it wasn’t me making the transaction. If they had a high level of security and were prompt in calling the consumer for suspicious charges (like other credit card institutions do), then this wouldn’t have happened.

I would also like to point out that this type of incident happened to my sister as well, who holds a Najm card, but the agent was prompt in calling her to verify the charge and upon her verbal confirmation that she didn’t authorise the transaction, the charge didn’t go through. So, I am not entirely sure what happened this time.

I hope that Gulf News can assist me in this matter.

From Ms Wellah Maagad

Dubai

The management of Majid Al Futtaim Finance responds:

The customer is criticising rules and regulations that we are obliged to abide by in our business, hence we could not meet her request of refunding the disputed transactions in advance without running the investigation procedures and rules applied in fraud cases and levied by Visa international as well as banks in general.

As also clarified, the type of transactions disputed differ from one case to another and accordingly their investigation procedures, not to mentioned that the transaction has to be posted in order for us to dispute it, as at times one can receive faulty messages that result in no deductions or transactions in the first place.

To prove a fraud dispute, there are layers of verifications that take place as part of compliance and due diligence as thoroughly explained to the customer. Her sister’s scenario could be different from hers — her case took between 70–75 days of investigation.

Finally, all the amounts have been reversed and refunded to the customer’s card. She is free to check with the customer service at any time to confirm this information.

Ms Maagad responds:

This is to confirm that I have received the refund. Many thanks for all your assistance.

(Process initiation: September 25. Response from organisation: September 29. Reader confirmation: September 30.)

Return my cheque

Two months ago, I applied for a credit card at Emirates NBD. They requested for many documents, such as bank statements for both my personal and business accounts, and asked me to draft a guarantee cheque for Dh120,000. In the same week, my credit card application got refused for reasons related to the bank. I respect their decision, however I asked for my guarantee cheque to be returned, yet they refused, claiming that all documents related to the application must stay with the bank. I don’t understand how can they keep a signed cheque of Dh120,000 without a service rendered. This should be illegal. Please advise how to sort this.

From Mr Tarek Ganem

Dubai

The management of Emirates NBD responds:

We would like to inform you that our Group Customer Experience team has been trying to get in touch with Mr Tarek Ganem to provide him with the necessary clarifications relating to the holding of the security cheque he provided along with his credit card application.

Furthermore, we have taken this matter up with our team in order to arrange for release of the security cheque to the customer. The team has tried to contact Mr Ganem several times to inform him about the action taken. However, they were unable to reach him as he is currently outside the country. We would like to confirm that the cheque will be given to him upon his return.

We take this opportunity to thank you for your continuous support in offering us the opportunity to further assist our valued customers.

(Process initiation: September 16. Response from organisation: September 23.)

Editor’s note: Do you have similar issues that you would like to raise with us? You can write to us at readers@gulfnews.com.