By Byamukama Innocent ACCA, Accountant, FP&A, FMVA
On the 14/12/2023 I decided to make a purchase off an online vendor (Shein) for some apparel, order amounting to USD. 415.79 using my Stanbic bank Visa card off my Uganda shillings account. Upon completion of the transaction, I realized the amounts deducted off my account was more than what I had expected.
The accountant in me prompted me to visit the nearest Branch (Stanbic bank forest mall) on the 15/12/2023 where I met with a customer service personnel (JK) to whom I raised my concerns. My intention for the visit was to ask the bank to cancel and reverse the transaction. The Bank’s staff personnel advised me to liaise with the vendor to cancel and make a refund which the vendor did instantly and I provided the proof to the bank for follow up.
On the 19/12/2023 I visited the bank to have an update on the transaction after realizing that they had reflected the transaction on my account statement which was reserved but not yet posted for the purchase (debit) equating to Ugx.1,676,364 indicating that they had used an exchange rate of Shs.4,031 for 1 USD which explains the reason for my interest to reverse the transaction since on the fateful day of the transaction, the dollar was trading between 3750-3800.
The personnel that attended to me that day contacted their operations team who promised that the refund for the transaction would be completed by the end of the day, which sounded like great news. To my surprise, I received a notification from the bank of a refund amounting to Ugx.1,457,026 which was less by Ugx.219,338 compared to the amounts deducted for the same transaction.
This prompted my next visit to the bank on the 20/12/2023 to seek clarity on the variance. I met with the initial bank personnel (JK) who had handled my complaint at the start and they told me that the difference in the amounts was due to the costs incurred by visa like exchange rates and other costs to which I requested for a breakdown of the same all in vain.
Upon receiving this unsatisfactory feedback from the officer, I clearly told them that I would have rather not requested for cancellation of the transaction if I was told this was going to happen. Unfortunately, I was met with a furious reaction from the officer who asked if they are the ones who told me to cancel the transaction!!
They further stated that if the bank is the one that had initiated the cancelation I would be able to get all my money back but since it was my own initiative, then I have to incur the loss. The feedback from this day left so many unanswered questions in my head that I would love to put across to the banking professional across the platform.
1. Who sets the exorbitant exchange rates for the VISA transactions and do we consent to these terms and conditions of being charged whichever rate charged despite being off the prevailing market rates?
2. If a transaction is reversed or cancelled/ should the bank still recognize a profit on the same transaction (including those arising on exchange rate differences)?
3. Let’s assume that the exchange rate at the time of refunds is in favor of the customer, would you refund more than what you had deducted off their accounts?