Dear Claudienne,

I am writing to you in a bid to get more information about the closure of my accounts at Scotiabank Jamaica earlier this year.

I had three accounts with them — two local currency and one USD. One account was opened at the Savanna-La-Mar branch while I was in school and the other at the Sam Sharpe Square branch while working. At the end of November/early December 2015, I applied to Scotia for a credit card.

I was asked to provide various documents such as ID, TRN, rent receipt, student loan statement, job letter, utility bill (Flow), and my last three pay stubs at the time. I received a call from a representative in late December 2015, after which I didn’t hear back from anyone.

I called the bank in January 2016 to follow up to see what the status of the credit card application was. I spoke to the agent who handled the initial application and he advised me that someone from the Customer Care department would contact me.

A few days later I got a call to say my application was declined as I wasn’t deemed suitable for a card. I was fine with that and reasoned that my application was probably declined because I had a student loan.

In mid-February I got a call from the bank that stated that they had cheques for me. Given that I wasn’t expecting cheques from anyone, I asked who was it from and the person said she did not know and asked how soon I could collect the cheques from their Montego Bay branch. I told her that I could not collect them any time soon as I was working in Kingston. She then proceeded to ask me which was the nearest branch to me and said that the cheques could be dropped off at that branch. Throughout this entire conversation I was not told that all my accounts had actually been closed.

On the weekend I went about my regular business, but when I tried to access my money at an ATM my card was rejected. When I called the customer service department to try and get more information about what was happening, I was advised that my accounts were inactive and that they could not give me any additional information. I was told that the bank would send me a letter with more details.

At this point I was beyond confused and concerned as I am not involved in any nefarious activity that would warrant these kinds of actions by a bank.

I went to the branch closest to my home to try and get more information but was advised that the information, would only be available at the branch where I had opened my account.

Silly me had all my money saved with Scotia, so with the closure of my accounts I was unable to do any bank transactions for days.

When the letter was eventually dropped off at the Duke Street branch, they gave me a document to sign saying that I had received the letter. I asked for more information and was advised to read the letter.

The letter stated the following: “We hereby advise you of our decision to close your account at caption with immediate effect based on the fact that you have submitted fraudulent documents towards a personal credit card loan application to the bank”.

I immediately tried to contact the manager of the Montego Bay branch where I had opened my last two accounts. After numerous unsuccessful attempts I was told to send an email to the branch manager and he would follow up with the head office on my behalf.

On March 10, 2016, I received an e-mail from the Montego Bay branch manager that stated the following: “

I was out of office on March 09, 2016 and was not able to respond to you. We have referred your concerns to the relevant department and await their response and hope to bring closure to the matter by March 17, 2016.”

I did not hear from the bank and on April 14, I sent the branch manager the following e-mail:

“ Following up to see if there is any update regarding the closure of my account. As mentioned before the reason given for the closure of my accounts doesn’t make sense. Accounts are said to be closed due to fraudulent documents submitted however each and every document submitted to the bank can be legally confirmed as accurate so would like to understand what exactly took place regarding this my accounts.”

I have made numerous attempts to get an update over the course of two months, but my e-mails have simply been ignored.

I still have all the e-mails which were sent for this application and which can be reproduced if needed.

I have since been able to have accounts set up elsewhere and a credit card application I made to another institution has been approved with pretty much the very same documents that Scotia had requested.

I would truly appreciate your assistance to get a better understanding of what had taken place and which document had been deemed to be fraudulent.

JV

Dear JV

Tell Claudienne communicated with Scotiabank to see if they would disclose further details as to why they closed your accounts. We received the following statement from Scotiabank.

“ Please allow me the opportunity to apologise to JV for the lack of communication he seemed to have experienced surrounding the closure of his accounts.

Unfortunately, based on the circumstances, we are unable to provide any further clarity on this matter.

On receiving this response, “ “ The bank responded as follows: “The CAC said that it was concerned that Scotia closed the account without any discussion with the client. Maybe you should again try to speak to the bank manager to see if he can shed any light on which documents the bank deemed to be fraudulent.Nonetheless, we are pleased that you have been able to open accounts and obtain a credit card at another banking institution.All the best.

Once again I thank you for allowing us the opportunity to respond to the customer concerns.”

On receiving this response, Tell Claudienne asked Scotiabank for further clarification. After discussions with the bank’s lawyers the Scotiabank’s spokesperson sent us the following letter:

“ We would first and foremost wish to apologise to JV for the manner in which this matter was handled. We are here to help our customers and it seems we fell short of that standard in this instance.

Based on the provisions of the Personal Financial Services Agreement, which is an agreement entered into between the Bank and its account holders, the Bank has the right to close the account and/or terminate any of the Services which it provides to the Customer, without prior notice to this Customer under certain circumstances.

We are of the view that, in this instance, such circumstances arose and this resulted in the closure of JV’s accounts. We are however unable to share those details due to Customer confidentiality

We thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. “

Tell Claudienne wrote to the bank as follows

“ We fully appreciate that Scotiabank’s clients’ accounts are confidential and that details cannot be disclosed to a third party.

However, we seek clarification as to why the bank has not communicated with JV directly and told him which of the document (s) that he gave to Scotiabank was fraudulent.

Please clarify what “certain circumstances” mean. Can we be given some examples of scenarios that would qualify as “certain circumstances.”

The bank responded as follows: “

After review, our original response to this matter stands. We have reattached it for your convenience. In response to your request of clarification of ‘certain circumstances,’ it is not our policy to disclose.”

Tell Claudienne asked the Consumers Affairs Commission (CAC) for an opinion on this matter. The CAC said that their lawyer, after researching the Bank of Jamaica Act and the recent Banking Service Code of Conduct, concluded that a bank can close an account without notice if it is affected by fraud.

The CAC said that it was concerned that Scotia closed the account without any discussion with the client.

Maybe you should again try to speak to the bank manager to see if he can shed any light on which documents the bank deemed to be fraudulent.

Nonetheless, we are pleased that you have been able to open accounts and obtain a credit card at another banking institution.

All the best.

Have a problem with a store, utility, a company? Telephone 936-9436 or write to: Tell Claudienne c/o Sunday Finance, Jamaica Observer, 40-421/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5; or e-mail: edwardsc@jamaicaobserver.com. Please include a contact phone number.