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Unacceptable behavior from banks about “forgotten” accounts
Sami Al Riyami
reyami@emaratalyoum.comsamialreyami
September 20 2021
A text message received by that man on his mobile phone, shocked him, threatening, and in a crude manner, to stop his bank accounts and freeze his balances, and other measures, if he did not go to the bank to pay the amount of 500,000 dirhams, which are old accumulations since 2007, due to the lack of He closed his account in that bank!
He consulted the concerned bank, and explained to him that there had been no dealings with him for many years, and his account was originally closed, according to his belief, and he replied in the negative, and that his account had been open throughout those years, and therefore he must pay the accumulations of the amount of opening the account and keep it below the permissible limit, which is 3000 dirhams And since he reviewed it and proved its seriousness to solve the issue, the claim was reduced to only 5,000 dirhams!
Of course, the man did not respond to the bank, and refused to pay any amount. Rather, he went to a law firm to file a case against the bank because of the threatening method that came in the letter, which is completely incompatible with the laws of the Central Bank!
It is strange that this man is not the only one who received messages from banks to pay “forgotten” amounts for many years, due to the failure to close the account. Rather, this behavior began to turn into a phenomenon, as many dealers confirmed that the banks they deal with collect a “minimum balance fee.” At a value of 26.5 dirhams, including value added tax, for old “forgotten” accounts, which led to the accumulation of these fees without their knowledge!
Some of them received notices of payment of sums of up to 8000 dirhams, which makes many question marks come to mind. Where were those banks all those years, which in some cases reached 15 years?
Why didn't you contact them when she knew their phone numbers and addresses, for example, in the first months, to inform them of the need to close the account?
Is it normal for him to leave work for all those years, and then suddenly demand sums of up to thousands, and he believed throughout that period that not dealing on the account “withdrawing or depositing” turns it into a “dormant account” or “semi-closed”, and therefore does not require imposing Any drawing on it?!
Such actions and claims can never be an acquired right for banks that cannot be claimed. Rather, it is more likely that it is an intentional behavior that requires the intervention of the Central Bank to stop these practices, and oblige the banks to communicate with the customer, and to close the accounts automatically after a certain period, especially if the balance is "Zero".
Yes, we confirm that the customer has to close the bank accounts that he does not use, whether when moving to a new bank, or upon the end of his dealings with the bank, such as car financing, for example, but on the other hand, there is an important role for the bank itself, as it must communicate with The customer and his correspondence, and publishing a general announcement for the owners of these accounts, and calling them to close them, before the accumulation of large sums of money that may constitute a burden on them, isn’t this an obvious matter?!
It is also obvious that bank accounts are classified as dormant after six months, so banks must stop the discount after a month or two of that, provided that they inform the customer, through text notifications, or mail messages, and announcing on the bank’s website, and informing Owners of these accounts that there are fees deducted on bank accounts whose balances are less than 3000 dirhams, and if they do not use them, they must take the initiative to close them, is this difficult for banks?!
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reyami@emaratalyoum.com