MBNA under fire over ‘harassing’ its customers

CREDIT card company MBNA has come under fire from customers over claims the firm is “harassing” people who have fallen behind in their debt repayments.

Speaking on the Gerry Ryan Show yesterday a number of callers claimed that they have been repeatedly called by MBNA staff between six and 10 times a day seeking the repayments.

In one case it was alleged a heavily pregnant customer was subjected to a “bombardment” of calls after losing her job and falling into arrears amounting to €1,300 and ‘late’ fees of €15 for every non-payment.

While the international firm has opened an internal investigation into the claims, it has strongly rejected suggestions that staff harassed customers. Instead, the firm said customers had agreed to be called by giving their phone numbers when setting up accounts with the MBNA.

However, the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) group has supported the customers’ complaints, with a spokesman stating that the description of the calls would appear to be prohibited under the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act, 1997.

MBNA is one of the largest credit card operators in Ireland, with its cards issued to such firms as Postbank, the EBS building society, and Ryanair.

In a statement, it rejected customer complaints that its staff have been “harassing” those who have fallen into debt.

“We do not contact customers on bank holidays or Sundays, just from 9am until 9pm Monday through Saturday, except by prior agreement by a customer,” an MBNA spokesman said, adding that guidelines are in place for debt collection.

“We would take an alleged breach of these guidelines seriously, including any allegations of harassment and encourage customers to contact us directly if they have any such concerns,” she added.

Further reports yesterday had suggested that customers who had fallen into arrears faced additional payments of €37 after debt collectors had arrived at their homes, and that the company reported customers to the Irish Credit Bureau (ICB) for missing just one repayment.

However, an MBNA spokesperson said the firm had no policy involving representatives arriving at customers’ homes.