Fraudulent transaction

I wish to share my experience regarding an unresolved complaint with National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD). I have had my salary account with NBAD since December 2014 and the transactions were going smoothly till July 2015. All of a sudden, on July 31, there were suspicious transactions in my account and I immediately called the helpline and blocked the card.

The total amount stolen was Dh2,800. After a discussion with the customer care officer, the bank blocked my card and issued a replacement debit card with Dh25 in charges for the replacement. They instructed me to visit the nearest ATM and perform one transaction from my blocked card to prove that I am in the country and to provide my passport in the account-holding branch, to confirm that I haven’t travelled.

As per their advice, I made an ATM transaction on the same day, July 31, and received a confirmation call from the NBAD fraud team that they have recognised the transaction as occurring in the UAE. Later, I submitted my passport at the branch to prove that I haven’t travelled anywhere on the transaction date.

I am an expatriate and if I travel anywhere outside the country, there will be an immigration stamp on the passport, but in my passport, no stamp was there. The bank official confirmed that I haven’t travelled anywhere and he raised my complaint on the fraud transaction and gave an acknowledgement copy, telling me an investigation would take 60 days. In the end, I would get a refund of the amount, as per the investigation report.

Meanwhile, I called twice to check on the status of the claim, but they said no confirmation could be provided until 60 days from the claim. I kept quiet, but on October 8, I still hadn’t received any status from the bank.

I requested a status on my query after 60 days, but I have had no reply from the bank.

So, now I need to know the meaning of the following:

1. What is the meaning of ‘TAT’ in the terms of NBAD?

2. What is the value of the money they give back to customer? As I mentioned above, I am an expatriate and came here to work. Please think about how difficult it is to survive if 60 per cent of my salary disappears in a fraud transaction.

3. This is a debit card fraud, with no online transaction. So, for what reason is it mentioned that NBAD is among the world’s 50 safest banks?

4. If there is a one day delay in credit card payments, will they still charge me for late payment?

Kindly look into this matter. I sincerely request Gulf News to escalate the issue. I am suffering a lot.

From Mr Vamsi Krishna D.

Dubai

 

The management of NBAD responds:

Mr Krishna had some fraudulent transactions in his account on August 1. He submitted the dispute form at Deira City Centre branch on August 2. As a process, it takes a minimum 45 to 60 days to settle the disputes. In the case of Mr Krishna, the disputed amounts were settled on October 13. We have contacted Mr Krishna and apologised to him for the delay in settling the disputed amount. As a most valued customer on this occasion, we have made a service gesture and have reversed the debit card replacement charges.

Thank you once again, for forwarding the complaint to us, our Customer’s experience is very important to us, so we are thankful for the opportunity to respond.

 

Mr Krishna updates:

My issue has been resolved by the bank.

 

(Process initiation: October 29. Response from organisation: November 1. Reader confirmation: November 17.)

 

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.