Martin Lee @ Sg
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Elderly Mislead by Sales Person from Bank

The following is a recent true story written by a friend of mine.

It is a warning to be vigilant of what might happen to elderly or not so literate people when they try to perform simple banking like fixed deposits at certain banks.

Never let your guard down.

Friends, if your parents do their own banking and they happen to know very little English, do watch out for them. You see, my parents did some banking this week. Strangely, even though they were merely depositing some spare cash, they were led to a nice booth and had a nice lady speak to them about their financial products. Were they identified as potential targets by the bank? Could be.

Anyway, being the shrewd person she is, my mum stated three simple requirements. The product recommended should be

Elderly Mislead by Sales Person from Bank1. Capital guaranteed
2. Fully redeemable within five years
3. Not insurance nor investment-linked

The sales person from the bank assured her that she had just the right product for my parents. They signed on the document and went home. Being cautious, my mum got her grandson to check the terms and conditions for her, and she was horrified to learn that the product is :

1. Not capital guaranteed. Worse case scenario could result in up to 20% in loses.
2. Only redeemable after 10 years.
3. Insurance and investment linked.

What a total misrepresentation of facts. Totally reprehensible, irresponsible, unethical and unprofessional conduct by this bank officer. Thanks to my sister, this matter has been resolved.

Lessons to share:

1. Learn to read
2. Be cautious
3. Do not trust people who have an agenda

This incident is clearly a breach of regulations on a few counts.

First of all, bank tellers are prohibited from referring customers to representatives for the purchase of investment products. This is to achieve clearer segregation between traditional teller transactions and investment product sales activities.

Tellers are only allowed to refer clients to representatives only when there is an express request by the client for information on investment products.

There is also mis-representation and needless to say, the recommended product is clearly unsuitable for the customer.

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4 comments
James says 10 years ago

Hi Lion,

In regard to this “CPF scheme an obstacle to home-loan financing” published in the Straits Times on 27 June’14 – http://www.straitstimes.com/premium/forum-letters/story/cpf-scheme-obstacle-home-loan-financing-20140627

In the above case, I would like to know is there anyway to get the money out from the CPF retirement account and put it back to the Ordinary account once you turn 55 years old in order to service their HDB mortgage?

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Jasmin says 10 years ago

For the sake of $$, some people go all the way out to earn it in whatever ways.

Did you read today’s ST Forum about a bank transferring funds and the account holder doesnt seem to have a single clue? This is absurd and maybe it is better to put my money under my bed.

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