I have been a customer with RAKBANK since 2007 and have been using most of their facilities. I have always felt good about dealing with a good bank. But, to my surprise, I received a frustrating call from the bank on April 3.
I have a personal loan from RAKBANK and the due date is the 4th of every month. Normally, my salary reaches before the due date and was only delayed on one occasion, as the signatories were away.
The bank official who called, wanted me to ensure that there was enough money in the account by the due date. Not only that, he was so serious in telling me that if there were insufficient funds in the account, I would be charged with a penalty of Dh300.
I felt that this was happening because a few days before his call, I had approached the bank to reschedule my loan, but it ended up being a waste of time. First, I checked with the call centre and they asked me to approach the branch. Accordingly, I had approached their Oud Metha Branch in Dubai where my account is held, but the officer asked me to go to the Al Qusais branch. But, when I went there, someone told me that I had to go to the collection centre and defaulters were dealt with there. My account had nothing to do with that since it is active.
I again visited the Oud Metha branch, but the officer repeated the same thing. So far, I have been keeping all payments up-to-date and there is no default. Now, I need the bank to support me by rescheduling the loan and reducing the equated monthly instalment (EMI). If the bank can’t do that, then what is the meaning of this relationship?
From Mr Murali Ambala Kolliyil
Dubai
The management of RAKBANK responds: Please note that as per banks’ standards and best practice in the UAE banking industry, the bank is limited with respect to disclosing or providing details and/or specific information about their customers to any third party to maintain the confidentiality of their data and personal information.
We note the customer was contacted to be reminded about the loan payment due date and was informed about the related charges for late payment. Mr Kolliyil has put forward an exceptional request in regards to the product held and we have requested him to submit relevant documents for our review.
Mr Kolliyil responds:
Thank you Gulf News, for the help. RAKBANK contacted me and I appreciate their cooperation at this time. I am going to submit the documents they have requested soon, and hope everything will be alright.
(Process initiation: May 9. Response from organisation: May 10. Reader confirmation: May 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.
