Bank to repay Dh124K over high card fees

abu dhabi — A UAE bank has been ordered to refund Dh104,000 to an Abu Dhabi customer, after he ended up paying more than double the amount he had used from his credit card.

The Abu Dhabi Commercial Court also directed the bank to pay the Emirati man Dh20,000 for the damages he suffered during the nine years he spent in making the unrealistic monthly fees. The total amount he paid touched Dh229,000.

Official court documents stated that the Emirati man obtained the credit card with a limit of Dh750,000 from the bank’s Abu Dhabi branch in 2008. He used the credit card to withdraw cash and make purchases totalling Dh98,000. He then went to the bank and requested that his card usage be stopped so that he could

clear the outstanding amount in monthly installments.

The customer said after paying the bank Dh229,299 in credit card fees over a period of nine years — which was more than double what he had used — he applied to close the card.

The customer was, however, told that he had to pay another Dh52,682 so that the card could be closed.

This meant the total amount the customer was asked to pay back was Dh281,000, which was almost 300 per cent of his Dh98,000 credit card purchases.

The customer refused to pay again and instead filed a lawsuit against the bank at the commercial court over the unrealistic credit card fees.

His lawyer, Ali Al Khaja, argued that his client was made to pay exorbitant credit card fees and requested that the bank be directed to refund all the extra money paid.

He also demanded that his client be compensated for the financial and moral damages he suffered because of the unrealistic payments.

According to a report by an accountant, the total credit card payment received by the bank from the customer amounted to Dh216,000, out of which Dh98,000 was for the credit card usage. The customer had also paid Dh13,000 as monthly bank charges.