I had opened a savings account with Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) in 2005. When I opened it, I was told it was a zero balance account. I had no transactions and the bank later decided to charge me, but I was never told about it or contacted by email or phone, till date. It’s only when I went to the bank to close the account, that they informed me there were charges.

This is unfair, because the bank did not inform me about it for all these years, and I only came to know when I approached the bank.

The bank charges are for maintaining a deposit below a specific amount, which was not there when I opened the account. I was also not told about it when the bank decided to introduce the charges. At the moment, the due amount stands above Dh1,000.

I am actually being penalised for being honest about the matter. I ask the bank to reverse the charges and close the account permanently and immediately.

From Mr Naeem Badiuzzaman

Dubai

The management of Dubai Islamic Bank responds:

We have been informed about Mr Badiuzzaman’s situation. As with most savings accounts, there is a minimal maintenance fee associated with keeping the account open in accordance with the Terms & Conditions applicable to the account at the time. However, because Mr Badiuzzaman was not checking his account regularly and did not maintain the minimal balance necessary, these fees accrued over time.

We encourage all of our customers to check their bank accounts regularly to ensure their finances are in order. Additionally, the Bank did send Mr Badiuzzaman communications related to these maintenance fees to the mailing address registered with us when he opened the account. The maintenance fees were also published on DIB website and in the table of charges in the branches. Because we greatly value our customers, we have decided to waive the fees being held against Mr Badiuzzaman’s account and now consider the matter closed.

(Process initiation: December 31, 2016. Response from organisation: February 2, 2017.)

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