I had applied for a personal loan with National Bank of Abu Dhabi [NBAD, which is now called First Abu Dhabi Bank or FAB] in January 2017. I arranged all of their requested documents one by one.

Once they confirmed that my loan application is approved and will be released within a couple of days, after I provide the Salary Transfer Letter (STL from my employer) to them as final requirement; I arranged it and went for some financial commitments back in February 2017.

But soon after I provided the STL to them, they reduced my loan amount, against their policy and professional ethics. But since I had already made some financial commitments, I agreed on the reduced amount provided they process the payment in a couple of days.

It has been over two weeks by now, but they have not released my loan payment. I have already suffered financial losses due their misconduct. I already booked a complaint through their telephone banking system, but to no avail.

I then requested them to return my STL, if they are not releasing my loan payment, so I may seek loan arrangements with another bank. But they have also not done that.

From Mr Umer Yousaf

Sharjah

The management of NBAD responds: Thank you for your constant cooperation and communication with us in the endeavour to best serve our customers and resolve their issues.

We have investigated Mr Umer Yousaf’s complaint and below are our findings: Mr Yousaf applied for a personal loan with NBAD. The loan amount was approved as per eligibility criteria by our Credit department. The loan was approved and the amount was put on hold until the required documents were provided by Mr Yousaf. Mr Yousaf needed to provide us with the clearance letter from the other bank and it is mandatory that the first salary is credited to the customer’s account in NBAD. The liability letter provided by Mr Yousaf had expired due to which his liabilities with the other bank were not yet settled.

We have requested Mr Yousaf to provide us with a valid liability letter in order to proceed with the settlement and to collect the clearance letter. Once the clearance letter is issued, we will be able to release the loan amount. We have contacted Mr Yousaf and have addressed all his concerns.

Thank you once again for forwarding the complaint to us. Our customer’s experience is very important to us and we are thankful for the opportunity to respond.

Mr Yousaf responds: I appreciate Gulf News’s support in this regard. However I need to highlight it is not correct that the bank has addressed all my concerns as narrated below.

1. They have not reinstated the loan amount as it was initially approved, on which I had provided the STL to them.

2. They have not returned my STL; and I am forced to transfer my salary to them.

3. I have arranged all the documents to them; including the fresh liability letter. But even then there’s no release of even the reduced funds.

4. No compensation for the delayed processing and unethical loan amount reduction. Anyhow, thank you for the efforts.

NBAD responds: Thank you once again for forwarding us Mr Yousaf’s concerns. The liability letter has been provided by Mr Yousaf and the settlement has been done. An exceptional approval has been taken to release a certain amount and we are waiting for the clearance letter from the competitor bank in order to release the remaining amount. Mr Yousaf has been contacted and informed.

(Process initiation: March 29. Response from organisation: April 3. Process completion: April 12.)

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.