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Tuesday, 19 March 2024 10:36 UAE time
Banking Survey Report 2010

One in three unhappy with GCC banks - survey
Tuesday, 01 June 2010


An extensive online survey conducted by Arabian Business has found that one in three Gulf residents is unhappy with the region’s "inadequate" banking experience.

More than 20 percent of respondents rated their overall banking experience as "terrible".

Some 41 percent of expatriate respondents said they rated Gulf banks as "much worse" than the banks in their home country.

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Less than half that figure believes the Gulf banking experience is better compared to that offered in the country they are from.

The Arabian Business Banking Survey 2010 attracted more than 800 respondents across the six Gulf states.

Conducted over a six-week period, it collected information from readers of 63 different nationalities, who were the customers of more than 60 different banks in the region.

More data from the Arabian Business Banking Survey will be published online soon.

In a report last month, Global Investment House said the UAE’s eight biggest banks may report an 18 percent rise in profit in 2010 and earnings may increase further if provisions from Dubai World’s debt restructuring aren’t high

The Kuwaiti investment bank said in a report that earnings may grow at an average annual rate of 26 percent over the next four years as UAE economic growth accelerates beyond the 2 percent to 3 percent rate expected this year.


 

READERS' COMMENTS

Disclaimer: The views expressed here by our readers are not necessarily shared by ArabianBusiness.com or its employees.
All Banks in UAE are same..!
Posted by vicky, dubai, uae on Thursday 3 June 2010 at 22:56 UAE time


the fact is that Bank doesn't have money.. now they want us to pay their dept..! i could say not 1 of 3.. but 3 of 3 are 100% unhappy!
They're ALL BAD. Worst industry in the region.
Posted by Uma Navalkar, Dubai, UAE on Thursday 3 June 2010 at 15:33 UAE time
Edited by ArabianBusiness.com

The survey is inadequate. The result would be 3/3 instead.

No customer service since there is non-existent training. We need to be the banker and advise them, rather than them advising us. The number of goof-ups is ludicrous. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

No central bureau to review credit given out, which results in bad debts especially to people who cannot manage their finances and are falling into a deeper hole. Banks increase debt of people who are already in debt. They act as loan-sharks with easy loans & free for life credit cards given to bad boy customers at exorbitant fees. Then you get hounded by the thug squad (collectors & collection agencies who have no idea or training in how to recover a bad debt.) For the amount of cases they turn bad, if they handled it professionally and gave options, they would have been able to recover the bad debt. Then try getting in touch with them by phone or visiting them and you’d reach the South Pole more easily. After you’ve paid off all debts and have received a signed & stamped No Liability Letter from the bank, their stupid inadequate collectors (the buffoons) continue to call you every week. RBS and in particular; HSBC is guilty of this with their call center located in another country. Go to their branches and they inform you to visit the head office. Go to the head office and they inform you to visit the branch. After much raving & ranting, you will be lucky to see someone. Sound familiar folks.

Why do banks (Mashreq Bank) charge you AED 3.00 to pay your credit card bills at an exchange house & AED 25 to pay at the branch? They claim that their CCDM machines are free of charge; however, the machines are never working. It’s just plain wrong to penalize a customer for making payments to the bank???!!! Then comes the account maintenance fee…..

When a bank gives you a free for life credit card with no cheques collected, and when you try to settle in full & close the credit card to obtain a No Liability certificate, they hold the credit card limit amount for 45 days from your account. I’m sure they’ll go into overdraft if there aren’t sufficient funds. Lesson learnt; never hold a credit card with the bank you have an account with.

Take a car loan from any bank that you don’t have an account with; they’ll never send you your loan schedule which is a proof that you have a loan with that bank and your right to receive such a document. When I tried to ask for such a print-out from CBI, they wanted to charge me AED 500 for a print-out which they never sent to me.

It’s morally wrong for a bank to charge you an exorbitant amount for settling a loan early. They should be happy to receive it back sooner.

Lastly, there is the awful tele-banking service of ENBD, who send you on a wild goose chase all across town to collect a replacement card. If you log a complaint with them, they never get back to you. Heaven help you if you want to make any changes. They had a better service when they were 2 separate banks.

Conclusion: The banking service in this region is disgraceful!
Entirely Rotten
Posted by Ahmed on Thursday 3 June 2010 at 01:56 UAE time


Dealing with the banks here is a nightmare. From the nonexistent customer service to the mind-boggling charges, it seems like they are enjoying their reign of tyranny in the absence of all accountability and regulation.
Mashreqbank Rocks.......Absolutely Not!!!!
Posted by Mark, dubai, uae on Wednesday 2 June 2010 at 20:07 UAE time


I would also like to add that I spoke to the person in charge of remittances about my issue. His response was that we had submitted remittance applications beyond the cut-off time of 02.30 pm. When I told him that we usually submitted applications by 11 am his answer was "your's is not the only remittance application that the bank receives. if you want to ensure same day value date remittances, submit the application before 9 am!!!!" This is a nutshell is mashreqbank.....they are always right even if they are bleedingly obviously wrong

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