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jaberi
join:2010-08-13

jaberi

Member

RBC blocks housebound senior from cashing pension cheques

If you go by TV commercials, banking seems easy, hip even.

But if you're someone like Nellie Graham, a housebound 94-year-old woman, banking can be a nightmare.

Graham's daughter, Linda, could not get the local RBC branch in Vancouver where Nellie's ailing husband has the family account, to cash her mother's pension cheques, even though she has power of attorney, giving her the right to handle her mother's affairs.

»ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/ ··· 717.html
jaberi

jaberi

Member

change the bank....

DKS
Damn Kidney Stones

join:2001-03-22
Owen Sound, ON

DKS to jaberi

to jaberi
Dumbest statement of the day came from the Canadian Banking Association.
quote:
The Canadian Banker’s Association (CBA) said banks try to accommodate people in these cases, but don't always.

"Banks will take steps to accommodate people as much as possible depending on the situation," spokeswoman Rachel Swiednicki wrote by email. "Banks also make a number of other banking options available, including ABMs and online, telephone and mobile banking."

»www.cbc.ca/news/canada/b ··· ied.html

No machine can substitute for a real person, especially with any form of accessibility issue.

And RBC covers its collective butt...
quote:
The same day Go Public contacted RBC about Nellie Graham’s pension cheques, three bankers from her local branch showed up at her home to open a joint account, so her daughter can now do her banking.

lugnut
@look.ca

lugnut to jaberi

Anon

to jaberi
It's rarely so simple that one can simply change banks in a situation like that. Often there are all sorts of direct debits and direct deposits going thru an account like that one and if you don't even have authority to cash a simple cheque, then good luck getting everything else changed over...
BrianON
join:2011-09-30
Ottawa, ON

BrianON to DKS

Member

to DKS
Identity theft is becoming more of a problem and one way to counter it is tightening up various identification requirements and procedures for opening accounts and cashing checks. Bound to be some rough spots as this happens.

I note the story is about cashing checks vs depositing. Cashing is subject to more scrutiny as the money is gone when the person walks out the door.

capdjq
Be Kind, Be Calm & Be Safe
Premium Member
join:2000-11-01
Vancouver

capdjq

Premium Member

said by BrianON:

Identity theft is becoming more of a problem and one way to counter it is tightening up various identification requirements and procedures for opening accounts and cashing checks. Bound to be some rough spots as this happens.

No kidding. Someone almost re-mortgaged my friend's home couple of months ago. Apparently his identity has been stolen. The police appear unable to help and he's had a tough time proving he's the real HE. If an unscrupulous daughter had withdrawn the money the Bank would have got all sorts of bad publicity.

LazMan
Premium Member
join:2003-03-26
Beverly Hills, CA

LazMan to jaberi

Premium Member

to jaberi
Slippery slope, though - the news story could have just as easily gone the other way "Senior bilked of thousands, as bank watched"...

Not defending, but also not condemning - it's a rock and hard place kind of situation.

If the previous manager had given the family some better advice (add the daughter and wife's names to the account) year's ago - it would have been a non-issue today. The new manager was doing what he was supposed to do - enfore the rules...

As for the advise to change banks - just about every bank has the same rules about third-party access to accounts... I just went through something very similar with Scotia, myself - a different bank, with the accounts setup the same way, would have had the same issues...

Styvas
Who are we? Forge FC!
Premium Member
join:2004-09-15
Hamilton, ON

Styvas to capdjq

Premium Member

to capdjq
said by capdjq:

said by BrianON:

Identity theft is becoming more of a problem and one way to counter it is tightening up various identification requirements and procedures for opening accounts and cashing checks. Bound to be some rough spots as this happens.

No kidding. Someone almost re-mortgaged my friend's home couple of months ago. Apparently his identity has been stolen. The police appear unable to help and he's had a tough time proving he's the real HE. If an unscrupulous daughter had withdrawn the money the Bank would have got all sorts of bad publicity.

And that bad publicity matters to the bank, but from a legal point of view, power of attorney is power of attorney. I don't think the bank should be second guessing it. It's up to the individual to whom they assign that power. If the person is being taken advantage of, that's very sad; but, there's not much the bank can do about it.

If I'm wrong about what the bank can do, I'd be happy to hear it.
BrianON
join:2011-09-30
Ottawa, ON

BrianON to jaberi

Member

to jaberi
The flip side, also from the CBC: Power of attorney theft underreported, police say.

digitalfutur
Sees More Than Shown
Premium Member
join:2000-07-15
GTA

digitalfutur to DKS

Premium Member

to DKS
Translation: Royal Bank HQ got wind of the story and ordered the branch to make it go away.

DKS
Damn Kidney Stones

join:2001-03-22
Owen Sound, ON

DKS

said by digitalfutur:

Translation: Royal Bank HQ got wind of the story and ordered the branch to make it go away.

Yup. In full CYA mode.

Guspaz
Guspaz
MVM
join:2001-11-05
Montreal, QC

Guspaz to jaberi

MVM

to jaberi
It sounds like the solution would have been to just get PoA for her father.
zod5000
join:2003-10-21
Victoria, BC

zod5000 to Styvas

Member

to Styvas
said by Styvas:

said by capdjq:

said by BrianON:

Identity theft is becoming more of a problem and one way to counter it is tightening up various identification requirements and procedures for opening accounts and cashing checks. Bound to be some rough spots as this happens.

No kidding. Someone almost re-mortgaged my friend's home couple of months ago. Apparently his identity has been stolen. The police appear unable to help and he's had a tough time proving he's the real HE. If an unscrupulous daughter had withdrawn the money the Bank would have got all sorts of bad publicity.

And that bad publicity matters to the bank, but from a legal point of view, power of attorney is power of attorney. I don't think the bank should be second guessing it. It's up to the individual to whom they assign that power. If the person is being taken advantage of, that's very sad; but, there's not much the bank can do about it.

If I'm wrong about what the bank can do, I'd be happy to hear it.

Every GPA document is different. They are generally drafted by lawyers. The wording (and what powers are given) would have to be sufficient as not to leave anything ambiguous.

I would agree that GPA docs should be sufficient, but not all GPA docs are drafted equally.

CanadianRip
join:2009-07-15
Oakville, ON

CanadianRip to BrianON

Member

to BrianON
said by BrianON:

Identity theft is becoming more of a problem and one way to counter it is tightening up various identification requirements and procedures for opening accounts and cashing checks. Bound to be some rough spots as this happens.

In fact Seniors generally face the most risk of Identity Fraud, and being victimized by their own family members. The financial industry is rife with cases of family members fraudulently applying for loans, withdrawing funds, etc without the consent of the senior involved. Without knowing the entire story, or RBC revealing its internal Security process it's difficult to say what the real motive is here.

The real story here is that impersonal banking, while saving on human resources is beginning to prove just as costly with the amount of lost money due to fraud and other security related issues.
GeoStar
join:2011-02-10
j2e6f5

GeoStar to jaberi

Member

to jaberi

The real story here is that impersonal banking, while saving on human resources is beginning to prove just as costly with the amount of lost money due to fraud and other security related issues.

Mmm so the banks are gettin in on the new businness eh ?