I have an account with Standard Chartered Bank (SCB). On March 6, 2017, the bank closed all my accounts and kept all my funds under investigation. My entire family - two children, my husband and I - were without access to money. When I contacted the bank, I discovered that the bank had mixed up the code of my home country with the code of a restricted country. I found it surprising that the bank closed my account without any verification, and most importantly, without a notification. Also, I am a priority client, with a relationship manager, who also wasn’t notified.
After communicating with the bank, SCB admitted they had made a mistake. After a week, they opened a new account for me, and I got my funds back. The most important issue for me, thereafter, was to get a letter from the bank, clearing our case. I believe that in order to close the account forcefully, they should have to prove that we are doing something illegal. It is understandable that we want to have a clean credit history.
I would appreciate if Gulf News could help me with this issue, not just because of our case, but so that similar situations are prevented. Staying without money, especially when you have children, is not easy.
From Ms Saida Sultanova
Dubai
The management of Standard Chartered responds:
Upon receiving the complaint, Standard Chartered Bank’s customer care unit got in touch with the client, arranged a meeting with her to understand and investigate the complaint. Post which, a new set of accounts were opened for the client.
Ms Sultanova responds:
Thank you for following up my issue.
(Process initiation: March 19. Response from organisation: March 26. Reader confirmation: March 27.)
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.
