I hold an account with National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD). Due to my company policy, my salary cannot be transferred to any other bank except NBAD. Accordingly, I opened an account with them and everything seemed to be going smoothly with no issues.
I also own a credit card with NBAD and never had any issues. All this changed in March, when I applied for a personal loan with NBAD. The sales agent initially told me that I could take a loan up to 20 times my salary, after they verified all the information — monthly salary, company’s accreditation with the bank and work experience. I was desperate for the lump sum cash to settle my credit card outstanding with NBAD, and for investment purposes in my home country.
I informed the sales agent to proceed with the loan processing and a few days later, she came back to me saying the loan could not be processed for 20 multiples, and the matrix only allowed 10 multiples. I was upset and told her not to cancel my credit card, since the monthly payment due was well below the Central Bank regulations. After three to four days, the amount was credited to my account, with 60 per cent of the loan amount charged towards the credit card cancellation (Dh59,000 against the card outstanding of Dh43,200).
When I checked with the sales agent, she replied saying it might be a mistake from the operations team and told me not to worry, as they can revert to me. But it has been over a month and till date, there has been no response from the bank. It clearly seemed like the sales team and operations team were working to cover each others’ mistakes. Even the extra amount, which they charged towards credit card cancellation, was not released and the customer care department was unable to provide any information on the money. NBAD crushed my investment plan, which I planned to complete during my vacation (April 10 to May 9).
The bottom line is that NBAD did not release the extra money, which they kept on hold with no information for the customer. The amount of Dh16,000 has been with the bank for more than a month. As a customer, if I fail to make any payment or purchase on time, they will charge interest, late fine and over limit charges, irrespective of any excuses. Now, who will pay the interest for the money, which they have kept with them for a month?
Please help me get a reply from NBAD for the following questions:
1. Why did the salesperson mislead me with false statements?
2. Why doesn’t the bank have stringent procedures and protocols in place, to control such practices?
3. How is the bank automatically closing credit cards without consultation and confirmation from the customer?
4. Why has the bank not released the money, which they charged with the credit card cancellation?
From Mr Shansundar Mani
Abu Dhabi
The management of NBAD responds:
Thank you for your constant cooperation and communication with us in the endeavour to best serve our customers and resolve their issues. We are pleased to inform Gulf News that we have contacted Mr Mani to address all his concerns and have resolved the matter to his satisfaction.
Thank you once again for your continuous support and valued efforts.
Mr Mani responds:
Thank you for the support. I am satisfied with the action taken by the NBAD complaints department.
(Process initiation: May 30. Response from organisation: June 1. Response from reader: June 5.)
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.
