Cardholders infuriated with banks

Bank customers seeking to get a credit card know it will provide them with the much needed cash. But many of them believe the tough terms stipulated by banks made such cards more a “submission” than a money tool.

A poll conducted by the Dubai-based Arabic language daily 'Emarat Al Youm' showed a large number of card holders are infuriated by the way banks treat them when it comes to obtaining a new credit card.

Some of them said they are not given a chance to read all terms and conditions as they are too long and are written in tiny letters. Others said they are submitted to clients only in English, which is unreadable to many.

“The documents signed by clients to get a credit card are simply documents of submission,” said Ashraf Taha, an employee in the UAE.

“A client seeking to obtain a credit card or a loan is normally in bad need for cash…so this client has no choice but to accept all conditions imposed by the bank which issues that card since there is no other alternative.”

He said forms presented to card applicants are usually written in “very small letters” and have too many pages, adding that this means the applicant has no time to read all those terms or is notgiven a chance to see them.

“In case the applicant reads the terms and refuses them, nothing can be done since the central bank does not normally intervene in such matters…this is allowing banks to exploit the situation by imposing more terms and fees.”

Another employee polled by the paper agreed that he was given a form that contains many pages written in “tiny letters.”

“You don’t have time to read the whole form when you are at the bank ready to sign the contract for a credit card….if you refuse to sign, the result will be that the bank will turn down your application…as you see, we have no choice but to sign or get rejected,” Ali Abdullah said.

“I have told the bank’s agent that some terms can not be accepted…he acknowledged that some of the conditions are very tough and unfair but that the bank wants to ensure its rights in case the debtor defaults.”

En Emirati card holder, Issa Abdullah, told the paper that bank agents usually ask applicants to sign forms in English on the grounds they do not have Arabic versions. “All they have to say is that you have to sign the form quickly or you could be deprived of the card….many agents say that the terms in the form are unified and there is no way they can be altered,” he said.

“I agree…most bank agents speak only English,” said another employee, Hassan Abdul Azim. “When I applied for a credit card, the agent spoke to me in English…I signed but I did not fully understand what he said.”

A female Emirati employee, Aisha Al Mansoori, said a bank agent came to her office and made her sign all the papers needed for having a credit card.

“He promised to give me a copy of the contract later…nearly a year after I received the credit card, I have not yet got that copy…I then went to the bank and they told me that the agent has resigned and that they would get in touch with me….they have not done this yet.”

She said she had also tried to contact the bank over what she described as regular monthly deductions from her account. “These deductions were not specified clearly in the card contract,” she said.

'Emarat Al Youm' also quoted bankers as defending the tough terms contained in the card contracts on the grounds they want to secure their rights.

“Many banks grant credit cards to applicants although they do not have account, adding that they are given cards against signed cheques.

“Resorting to court is a costly process for banks….hence the banks try to protect their rights through such tough terms,” one banker said.

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