Antonio is angry. Like other people in recent days, he contacted our editorial staff via the orange Alert us button to understand why his bank announced the closure of his account “without cause” after 50 years of commercial relationship. If this situation raises concerns, the financial institution has the right to make this decision.
Very touched, Antonio felt “disarmed” on December 7 when he learned of the decision taken by his bank to end their commercial relationship. The 65-year-old pre-retiree received a letter from BNP Paribas Fortis in which the financial institution announced the end of their contract “without reason”.
“I did not expect this letter at all. I have never had any debts. The postman rang the doorbell and gave me this letter. I did not receive a reminder letter or warning before. What fault have I committed?”asks the resident of Seraing.
“After 50 years of commercial relationship, we write to you like this… without explaining… I’m not in love with my bank, I’m not sad, but it’s the way that bothers me. It’s total contempt. After 50 years of habits, we don’t like change”, he adds.
In this letter, the BNP Paribas bank justifies its decision by referring to article 14 of its general conditions. “Both the client and the Bank may, at any time and without reason, terminate all or some of the indefinite term agreements binding them by registered letter by post subject to one month’s notice from the date sending”, can we read in the mail below.
I always wonder what I could have done wrong
If Antonio has already signed a contract with another bank, he really wants to know what happened.
“I’m just being quoted Article 14… I had to liquidate my current account, my passbook, my securities account. I see that they also gave me an installment loan. But I didn’t installment loan… I called my bank to find out more. And there, a person told me that there is indeed a mistake, “you do not have an installment loan”, and that ‘disregard the paragraph.’
And to add: “I was told that the bank’s decision had been taken after a fault was ‘minimal’ on my part. My agency replied that it had no more explanations to give me. I received emails, and they take refuge behind their article 14 to say nothing. I always wonder what fault I committed… I do everything by application, I have never received a warning.”
They are robots and we are numbers
An independent pump attendant for many years, he says he had a “special” relationship with his bank. Which also explains his disappointment.
“I worked at the time with cash credits because the orders were big. And on that, they took double-digit interest rates. They made money from it with me for years “he continues. “These are big receipts in the service stations. Every day, I deposited money at the counter. It was accredited to me 24 hours later, so money they earned. I find that after all that , my agency could have received me to explain myself. A little humanity anyway. They are robots and we are numbers… I wanted to talk about my problem because I will not be the only one to receive this kind of letter.”
At the beginning of December, our editorial staff actually received other testimonies. The KBC bank, for example, took the same decision against a resident of Berchem.
Can a bank close an account without giving an explanation?
As indicated in the letter received by Antonio, the bank, like the customer, does have the right to make the decision to close an account unilaterally. There is also no obligation to justify this decision.
Hilde Junius, the spokeswoman for BNP Paribas Fortis, who does not comment on specific cases, confirmed to us that there is no explanation to be given to Antonio and the other clients.
Most often, it is an “administrative” problem, such as forgetting to renew identity card data. “Banking institutions must comply with strict rules in the fight against money laundering and terrorism. If the customer does not react after three requests, the decision to close the account can be taken”, explains Rodolphe de Pierpont, the spokesperson for Febelfin (the Belgian Federation of the financial sector).
“In practice, our lives change and sometimes we change our identity card because it is out of date and we have to update it because we move. And there sometimes, that poses a problem. The bank must have its updated information and therefore there is a problem. In practice, an account closure will occur after several reminders left unanswered. And there, unfortunately, the bank has to make a radical decision.”
The customer must then be informed of the intention to end the commercial relationship and a period of 2 months is granted for him to make his arrangements.
There is also always the possibility of filing a complaint with your financial institution. At BNP Paribas Fortis, this service can be reached by email: [email protected] or by telephone via the Easy Banking number.
Does the customer have a right of recourse?
The Federation of the financial sector insisted: the first interlocutor remains the bank itself. Then, in case of disagreement, he can always contact the judicial authorities. A path that can be risky, given the time and money that would be spent in launching such a procedure.
After filing a complaint with the bank, the customer can also contact the Ombudsfin. The Financial Services Ombudsman Service opened 90 individual files relating to such complaints in 2021. “In most cases, our intervention did not allow the complainant to find out more, the banks taking refuge behind the applicable contractual clauses”, indicates this mediation service.
The mediator also recalls that, subject to compliance with notice, financial institutions are not obliged to communicate the concrete reason for the severance of the relationship, not even to the mediator.
The Ombudsfin affirms that he can always try to question the bank on this subject, but without any means of coercion. Moreover, financial institutions cannot be obliged to maintain or restore the relationship with the customer. In principle, the consumer cannot be obliged to do so either.
In these files, the mediator mainly checks whether the formalities provided for by the general conditions of the banks have been complied with and whether the costs advanced by the customers must be reimbursed.