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28 March 2024

Is it hard to get credit cards in UAE? Yes, sometimes…

Published
By Majorie van Leijen

Most bank account holders cannot be contacted enough when they are eligible for a credit card, and it is sometimes hard to say no. But, a complete contradicting experience faces SS, who has now been chasing her credit card for two months.

“It has been two months now since I applied for a credit card. I have contacted customer service three times, visited the bank two times and I am in touch with three people at the moment, but I still have not seen a sign of my credit card,” says SS, a Syrian woman working for a company in Dubai.

Because her company is not listed with the bank, SS agreed that a deposit of Dh15,000 would be held, until the credit card was issued. “This was fine with me, because I expected to get the credit card soon. But the money was taken from my account, and I still do not have the card! I had to borrow money to meet my responsibilities!” SS says.

According to AZ, the person in charge of the application at the bank, the problem lies with SS.

SS, of course, blames the bank for the delay.

The first hurdle, according to the communication between SS and the bank, was an emergency leave of the person who was in charge of processing the application of SS.

“I was kindly explained that the person in charge had to leave, and did not find the time to call his customers. The application was not yet sent, apologies were offered and the application would be sent out.”

That was a couple of weeks ago.

But after 3 days, SS received the following message: “Thanks for the confirmation to proceed with the application. The request is currently with the concerned team to waive the annual fee of Dh400. Once that is confirmed we would proceed to book the physical card. I understand this has been delayed and completely agree with you on the points mentioned, we however are on top of this now and expect the card to be delivered to you around the same time next week.”

“I was never told about this Dh400 fee in the first place,” says SS.

When contacted by Emirates 24|7, AZ said: “Unless SS agrees to the terms and conditions of this credit card and agrees to pay for the Dh400 annual fee, we will not proceed with the credit card. Until now, she has not done so,” he explains, refusing to elaborate on the communication.

Right after this communication, SS received an email. She was offered a 50 per cent discount on the annual fee. The application could now be processed.

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