Dear Claudienne,

I have an NCB savings account at the Half-Way-Tree branch that was opened on July 13, 2004. After money was stolen from my account, I wrote the following to the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ):

“Dear Sir/ Madam,

On the night of November 13, 2021, when I was about to pay an online utility bill, I discovered that an unauthorised sum of J$190,000 was removed from my NCB savings account. On November 10 and 11, 2021, J$100,000 and J$90,000 were removed, respectively. I attempted to contact customer care but was unsuccessful as the hour was too late.

On November 14, 2021, I quickly reported the matter to NCB customer care who advised that the case will be logged, a hold placed on the account and that I should take several particulars to the branch to get a replacement of the Midas debit card. I was assured that within three days, an SMS would be sent to my mobile phone and was given CAS 778522 and CAS 778523 for further referencing.

I did as instructed and received a Visa Debit Card from NCB Half-Way-Tree Branch after waiting outside for hours and being told that the system was malfunctioning, and that they were unable to state how long it would take for the system to be functional. On November 18, 2021, two SMS were received which stated: ‘Dear Valued Customer, please be advised that your complaints

# CAS-778523-G3G5N0 and CAS-778522-Z0F4W6 are still being investigated; we do apologize for the delay. Do Not Reply.’

I decided to contact Customer Care on November 22, 2021, as I had not received any further communication from NCB. I spoke to a customer care representative Christina who informed me that the conclusion of the case was that the genuine card and pin were used. I found that to be very strange as the card has been with me and no one has access to the same. I also pondered how could one card be at two places at the same time. Christina also advised me to report the matter to the police.

I visited the nearest police station immediately and was told that NCB could have never sent me to the police station as NCB should be the one to communicate with them so that they can investigate. I returned home and contacted a customer care representative who gave me the same advice. I requested to speak to her supervisor and after waiting for a very prolonged period, spoke to George. I told him about my visit to the police station. He advised me to go to the Central Police Station to report the matter. I went to the police station and was asked if I received a document from the bank? I did not because no one informed me that I needed to take a printout of the transaction from the bank, so I had to leave the police station, went to the bank and returned.

I voluntarily gave my statement to the Fraud Squad Unit and was given a receipt with the Reg#20903. I revisited the Fraud Squad Unit on December 9, 2021, as I was informed by a constable to give a second statement in addition to having my sister give a statement, seeing that she was a beneficiary on the bank account. This was done as requested. On that said date, I was shown seven footage pictures of the person who did the transactions and was asked to identify the individual. I was unable to identify the perpetrator as he was heavily disguised wearing a tam extending from his head to below his eyes and a mask. It was the first time I was seeing that individual based on his stature.

I visited NCB Half-Way-Tree branch on December 14, 2021, to speak with Mr DG as I have been very frustrated as to the way the bank has been handling this matter. A supervisor informed me that Mr DG was in a meeting, so I gave her my contact number and the case numbers and informed her of the sum that was withdrawn from my account. She stated that an e-mail would be sent to the NCB Fraud team, Mr DG would be copied in the e-mail and I would receive a call before the day ends. I received the call and was told to write a letter to the Fraud Management Prevention Unit. I wrote a letter to the unit on December 16, 2021 and I received an e-mail from Mr N on December 31, 2021, which stated: ‘We acknowledge receipt of your recent query regarding specific transaction(s) reflected on your account. The safety of your account and personal information is a top priority and as such, we have conducted a thorough investigation into the matter using our internal security protocols. This process has not revealed that your account was compromised or breached in the use of your debit card or unique PIN. When this occurs, it is strongly recommended that the matter be reported to the Police, so a broader investigation may be done. We will cooperate fully by providing information, including photographs or video, that may help the police uncover any further insights into how the transaction(s) occurred. The contact numbers for the police stations island-wide are provided online at the Jamaica Constabulary Force website. We regret that we are unable to shed more light into this matter at this time and we hope there will be a resolution to your satisfaction. Sincerely, Dane Nicholson, Manager – Special Investigations Fraud Prevention Unit”. I doubt that Mr Nicholson read my letter in its entirety as my letter stated all that occurred from the beginning including going to the police station and not being able to identify the perpetrator.”

Your assistance in this matter will be appreciated.

KL

Dear KL

Tell Claudienne has been in communication with the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) in respect of your concerns: Jide Lewis, deputy governor BOJ Financial Institutions Supervisory Division, informed the column that the BOJ sent you the following letter:

“Reference is made to your complaint received on 27 January 2023 and subsequent submission on 24 February 2023 requesting Bank of Jamaica’s (‘the Bank’s’) intervention in relation to alleged unauthorized withdrawals from your account held with National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited (NCBJ). We deeply regret the gaps in the level of the team’s service delivery to you and again sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused as a result of same. This anomaly is in no way reflective of the level of service and professionalism that we pride ourselves on and which we endeavour to provide to members of the public seeking our assistance.

Essentially your concerns surround your disagreement with the findings from the investigation into your complaint by NCBJ regarding the alleged withdrawal of the sum of One Hundred and Ninety Thousand Dollars ($190,000.00) from your account, in November 2021, without your knowledge or consent.

We note from your correspondence that the matter was previously reported to and investigated by NCBJ on four prior occasions the last being on 1 March 2022, when the matter was initially brought to our attention, and that the outcome was again communicated to you in letter dated 16 March 2022, advising that the funds would not be reimbursed because your genuine card and personal identification number was used to conduct the disputed transactions. We further note that the matter was reported to the Jamaica Constabulary Force and the Fraud Squad, however, it is unclear from your submission whether or not a determination has been made by both entities in relation to your case.

In this regard we must reiterate our remit as it relates to customer complaints handling as we had previously explained in our prior telephone discussions with you. In so doing, we would wish to clarify the role and scope of The Banking Services (Deposit Taking Institutions) (Customer Related Matters) Code of Conduct, 2016 (‘the Code’) to provide some context for our response. The Code, which was issued on 29 August 2016 pursuant to section 132(4)(b) of the Banking Services Act (BSA), establishes minimum standards of good banking practice for deposit-taking institutions (DTIs), i.e. commercial banks, merchant banks and building societies in engaging in financial relationships and activities with their customers. To this end, the Bank’s remit under the Code is to ensure that banks and other BSA licensees provide the relevant disclosures to customers and establish and implement mechanisms for handling customer complaints. In this regard, customer complaints received by the Bank are reviewed to determine whether there has been a breach of the Code by the DTI or other BSA licensee.

In view of the foregoing, we wish to advise that at this point we are constrained by the limitations of the Code and what we are empowered to do in such matters. While the Code requires all DTIs to investigate complaints submitted to its offices and communicate the outcome of same within a prescribed time frame, we must also advise that the Code has no dispute resolution provisions and, as such, if you would wish to pursue the matter further, we would again recommend that you seek and engage the services of an attorney-at-law, who may be able to advise on the options available to you based on the specific circumstances you have outlined.

We once again thank you for bringing your concerns to the attention of the Central Bank.”

Tell Claudienne also asked NCB to respond to a number of questions stated in your e-mail to the BOJ. However, NCB has not answered the questions.

The questions stated in your e-mail to BOJ were:

“Do all customers having Midas debit cards receive e-mail when transactions are done, or some customers are conveniently omitted from the system? If customers receive e-mail about their transactions, why weren’t e-mail of this nature sent to me? I only receive promotional e-mail.

1. Why is it that no one from the bank contacted me when this large sum of money was withdrawn from my account?

2. Why is it that no one from the bank informed me of the result from their investigation? I had to be calling until the customer care representative informed me of the conclusion that she saw on the system.

3. Why wasn’t a ‘hold’ placed immediately on my account when I reported the matter?

4. Where did this ‘so-called original card’ come from because it is surely not the one that NCB gave me.

5. How does one know an original card from a cloned card?

6. Which individual in the bank has access to debit cards/issue debit cards to other customers?

7. The perpetrator was heavily disguised and used the same ATM machine after 4 pm on November 10th and after 8 am November 11th. What is unique about this ATM? An outside scammer would not go to the same ATM to do withdrawals…

8. The perpetrator did not empty my account — which is the usual practice for outside scammer. Why was this so?”

Tell Claudienne also informed Michael Lee-Chin, chairman of Portland Holdings, director, National Commercial Bank Jamaica Ltd, of your concerns and on April 10, 2024, the corporate affairs partner NCB e-mailed the column the following:

“Further to your telephone conversation……… thanks again for resharing this matter with us. I am confirming that we have been in touch with the customer(s), and the matter(s) have been concluded.

There is currently no government agency in the island that is empowered to intervene and settle complaints between the banks and their customers, However, in January the Minister of Finance and the Public Service announced that the Government would be pursuing the creation of a ‘twin peaks model’ of financial sector supervision and regulation that is being programmed for implementation in 18 to 24 months.

Under Peak 2 of the ‘twin peaks model the Financial Services Commission will be reformed and made responsible for Prudential Regulations and will also oversee market conduct and Consumer protection financial issues’.

We wish you all the best.

Have a problem with a store, utility, a company? Telephone 876-936-9436 or Cell # 876-484-1349 or write to: Tell Claudienne c/o Sunday Finance, Jamaica Observer, 40-42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5; or e- mail:edwardsc@jamaicaobserver.com. Please include a contact phone number.