And what a shocker the letter was, warning me I had just four weeks to shut down my account. Return the credit card. Return the cheque book. And get out. The decision was made, the letter said, following a regular “business review” of various accounts. I was further warned that if I did not do this immediately, my account would be closed and any money I had left would be sent by cheque (to the wrong address I presumed). The letter was signed by four people from the bank, including the rather absurdly titled “relationship manager.” I had no idea what was behind this – close to ten years with the bank, and zero debt for most of the last five years. No loans, no mortgage and credit card always paid off in full. In short, my account has always been in strong credit. Strangely, over the next few weeks, I received several random calls from the bank – offering me a loan, a new credit card, a mortgage. Anything you want, you can have. So why did they write to me giving me the boot? Looking back, for the first few years of our relationship I was probably an ideal partner. I had loans, I had credit cards and lived life to the full. Mashreq loved me, I loved Mashreq. We saw each other a lot, and spoke practically every day. But then in 2008 I cleaned up my bad boy image. I went straight. I got married and settled. I made sure I had no loans, no debts whatsoever. I noticed then that our relationship was starting to go cold. I was no longer “hot.” Now and again I would get a call offering me a loan, cash back on my credit card, or just about any form of debt. I kept saying no, and the more I did, the more difficult our relationship became. I remember once going to the branch in Mall of Emirates to deposit a cheque, and the woman behind the counter brought up my details. She looked shocked. “You have no loans?” she said. I felt embarrassed. Almost a failure. Undeterred, I began the process of cancelling my account. This wasn’t easy. Each time I called the bank, they appeared staggered. I went to the branch to withdraw my money. “Why would you want to do that? You are a gold customer? Are you not happy with the service?” one of the staff asked me. I explained to him that the bank had told me to clear off. “But why don’t you apply for a mortgage at least?” he replied. Even trying to get a liability letter has proved far from easy – Mashreq, the bank that kicked me out, can’t understand why I don’t want to bank with them anymore. arabianbusiness/why-i-broke-up-with-mashreq-527901.html
Posted on: Tue, 26 Nov 2013 03:19:16 +0000
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