Do You Own Your Bank Account? Or The Funds In Your Bank Account?
Today I had to find out the answer to both questions the hard way and I'd like to share the story with you. I'm not a fan of complaining, making people feel sorry for me, that's not my style, but my case could be an eye opener, could save you from some trouble.
Last week I got a text from the bank, saying my debit card has been blocked and can no longer be used and was asked to go to the nearest bank unit. The reason was not complying with the rules or something like that. This is not my main account, it's only for PayPal payments and stuff, so I don't use it often.
Today I went to the bank, gave the front desk lady my ID and told her what I was there for. After checking the database, she told me I don't even own an account in that bank and she asked me if I'm sure that's the bank where I have my account. I don't know if this was funny or tragic as I showed her the text in which it was clearly stated which bank it is about. When she realized the matter was above her pay grade, so she took me to a back office to her coworker.
There I had to find out my debit card has been blocked, my bank account closed, the reason being I failed the personal data verification. I asked the lady how do the notify clients as I got no notification regarding the matter. She said it depends, sometimes by email or text, or they call, which led me to believe there's no written rule.
I can't remember exactly how much money I had in my account but it must have been around $150, so asked the lady what's going to happen with it. I was told it's going to be refunded.
After waiting about ten minutes, time in which the lady was reading something on her screen and went to her supervisor twice for advice, she gave my ID back, told me she will call me to come back another day, as I'm the first parson in this situation and they don't know how to proceed. Turns out there are two application rules regarding refunding, totally contradicting each other. Why am I not surprised?
At this point my debit card has been blocked, my account cancelled and my money taken away. All this without proper warning as I got only the last notification, when everything was done.
I Was Wondering
The European Union has introduced some directives referring to banks, personal data, security and stuff like that. Based on these directives banks are obliged to do personal data verification from time to time. No one knows when as they don't tell you and each bank does it differently, some more often than others. If you fail, you end up like me.
A personal data verification refers to ID, home address, phone number, email address, your employee status, income, etc., you even have to declare if you're a US citizen. Underwear measure is not required yet but who knows.
So based on what personal data they get from people, they have three ways to notify you. By email, by written letter and/or by phone (text and phone call), yet they have failed to do so and the best thing is they can't prove they have as there's no proof. Looks like personal data serves only when they want to go after you for owing the bank. I could sue them, but fighting in court with a giant like that for $150 would be suicide.
What I don't understand is how on earth can this happen? We live in a digital era. The app they are working with has filters, it can list all the accounts at risk and can even send automated emails, maybe texts too to warn people. Notification can be repeated to prevent canceling your account. Yet, they fail to do so.
It's been a good few hours since I left the bank and there's no news yet, haven't been called yet.
Other Horror Stories
The same thing happened to my brother last year with another bank. He contacted the bank because his online payment was rejected and was told his debit card was blocked because he failed to do the personal data verification. He wasn't notified either, by the way. The bank said he must go in and do the verification personally, can't do it on the phone. He was in isolation back then, due to covid safety measures as he's been abroad previously. After some negotiation on the phone, the bank was willing to verify his data and promised to unblock his debit card in 2 days. I had to pay some of his bills to help him out.
As I was walking out of the bank I remembered another incident I had with them years ago. My debit card was about to expire and the new card usually is issued automatically, you just have to go pick it up. So I vent to pick mine up and was told there's no card waiting for me. Imagine my shock. I was told the bank decided not to issue those cards anymore and launched a new one instead, which you had to apply for again if you wanted. I asked the lady, why wasn't I notified? She didn't have an answer. And that's how I had to wait a week to get a new card.
Two years ago I got a text from the bank (another one, my main account) notifying me that my debit card was blocked as suspicious activity was noticed. This happened Saturday afternoon. I checked my account, my funds were there, but could not use any as banks are closed on weekends, there are a few units in big shopping centers but those close Saturday at noon too. This happened Saturday afternoon. The text said they are going to notify me when my new debit card is ready, and they did. When I went to pick up my card, asked the lady what's happened. She could not tell me exactly, she gave me a bunch of probable causes, but nothing specific.
Do You Own Your Bank Account? Or The Funds In Your Bank Account?
The answer to the first question is no. You don't own your bank account, the bank does and you can only use it if you promise to play nice.
Do you own the funds in your account? Not really, as the bank can take it away from you if you don't play nice and don't have a crystal ball to tell you when to do personal data verification as the bank has other priorities, notifying you is not one of them. Plus taxman will be able to take your money away more easily now, as banks are obliged to report everything to taxman starting from this year.
Your account, your money? No, it isn't.
I'm wondering what happens with funds collected from cancelled accounts.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
