Card blocked with no prior notice

Card blocked with no prior notice

I found my credit card was blocked by Standard Chartered Bank (SBC) on September 7, 2016, and they did not give me any prior notice.

I called the SCB customer service, and was told to call back within three to five days. I called back after seven days and was told to visit their branch. I visited their branch in Emaar Square, Dubai, and was told that my card had problems and it was under investigation. They said they would contact me, but I didn’t realise it would take this long. I questioned why they blocked my card without prior notice. The answer is, the card is their product so they can block it as they like.

I waited and waited. Finally SCB called me on September 24 and asked me to explain the spending on my credit card, and the funds transferred to my account. I explained to them and mentioned that the funds transferred to my account were from my husband. They then asked me to provide my husband’s salary certificate. I told them he has his own business. They then asked me to provide his company’s bank statement. However, to date, my card remains blocked after many explanations.

I had a car loan from SCB since 2013, and paid on time every month. I did nothing illegal, then why are they questioning me like a criminal? I have already explained everything to them.

I request Gulf News to help me with this issue.

From Ms Yuan Shen

Dubai

The management of SCB responds:

Upon receiving the complaint, Standard Chartered Customer Care unit contacted the client and informed her of the required documents to complete her profile with the bank, as part of the bank’s customer due diligence policies.

Ms Shen responds:

Thank you Gulf News for your help. SCB contacted me, however, did not specify what documents they need me to provide. So what I did was provide all the documents I think would be needed on October 20. I called them last week, the response was that my documents were still under review. And 10 days have passed after my documents submission.

Ms Shen updates:

I called SCB today regarding my credit card issue and they told me the complaint was already closed. That is so ridiculous! My card is still blocked. What should I do?

Editor’s note: The reader’s complaint was forwarded to SCB for comments. However, the bank said they had nothing further to add.

(Process initiation: October 17. Response from organisation: October 25. Process completion: November 7.)