Ross Burnett has complained to the Banking Ombudsman about TSB. Photo / Jason Oxenham.
Ross Burnett has complained to the Banking Ombudsman about TSB. Photo / Jason Oxenham.
A man says he was turned down for a basic transaction account with TSB and claims he wasn't given a reason why.
Ross Burnett, an Auckland contact centre worker, said he approached the bank in June to set up a new account because he wasn't happy with his current bank.
He gave them three months worth of bank statements and details of his income and says he was also upfront about having a poor credit history.
"I've got issues there at the moment and I acknowledge this. I told them. My viewpoint is if I can bank with Co-op Bank I can bank with TSB.
"Unfortunately they didn't see it my way. They didn't want to."
Burnett entered into a debt repayment order, formerly known as a summary installment order, in January 2020.
The orders are an arrangement made between a borrower and their creditors when the borrower can't pay off their debts at that moment in time but will be able to pay some of the money back over time. The orders usually run for three years although they can be more or less time.
Borrowers have to work with a supervisor to pay the money back and it is overseen by the Official Assignee.
Burnett said he got into debt trouble by becoming over-committed and owed around $5000 to creditors. But he made it clear to TSB that he didn't want to borrow any money from the bank.
"I made the point I didn't want any lending facilities."
But they still turned him down.
"Whatever internal banking processes and procedures they have I didn't tick their boxes and the frustrating part for me after going through so much disclosure to be told blankly sorry we don't want your business go elsewhere, and they think that people will blindly accept that."
Burnett said he complained to the bank about being turned down without a reason and it was elevated through a three-tiered complaint process.
But he claims he still didn't get a straight answer.
Since then he has complained to the Banking Ombudsman.
A spokeswoman for the Banking Ombudsman said it was unable to comment on the specific case.
But she said just as a customer can choose which bank they want to bank with, so too can a bank decide whether it wants to have a particular person as a customer.
"In making such decisions, banks must comply with their legal obligations (such as the prohibition on unlawful discrimination under the Human Rights Act 1993) but they are otherwise entitled to make decisions based on their policy and risk appetite.
"While we consider it best practice for banks to provide a reason where they decline to offer a product or service to someone, there is no legal requirement for them to do so."
She said banks should communicate clearly and effectively if they do provide a reason.
A man has complained that TSB turned him down as a customer without giving a reason. Photo / NZME
A TSB spokeswoman said it was unable to comment on individual applications.
"As per industry practice TSB reviews applications to join TSB on a case-by-case basis, giving consideration to the information provided as part of the joining process.
"The types of information collected and considered can include the reason for wanting to join TSB, what they plan to use the account for, information needed in order to comply with our various legal and regulatory obligations (such as from Know Your Customer inquiries we must make to comply with anti-money laundering regulations), the applicant's financial history and other relevant information."
She said the decision not to accept a customer's application was one that was carefully considered and may relate to one or several factors based on its onboarding business rules and procedures.
Burnett said he understood why the bank might not want to take him on but all he wanted was a straight answer from them on it.
"If they are going to decline then just say this is the reason why. It is not difficult. If I was applying for a mortgage they wouldn't have any hesitation in telling me. Or an overdraft."
Burnett said the knock-back wouldn't stop him from trying to turn over a new leaf.
He is working two jobs to try to pay the debt off and hopes to study for a business qualification to help him build up a merchandising business he has started on top of his jobs.
