Justice for credit card holders

Justice for credit card holders

From time to time newspapers in Jakarta publish statements by
banks apologizing for "less than sympathetic treatment" by their
employees, adding they did not intend to terrorize their
customers. They also say they make constant efforts to contact
and settle customer complaints. Credit card holders who have
experienced "less than sympathetic treatment" feel the glib
language of bank personnel or third parties contains elements
which are degrading to human dignity. I have had the same
experience as a credit card holder at one of the banks in
Jakarta.

In a number of offices in Jakarta, "morally bankrupt, well-
trained capitalist terrorists" systematically telephone, visit
and intimidate credit card holders who have been blacklisted.
These "capitalist terrorist" use various methods and approaches
which are nearly all criminal in nature, with the objective of
receiving the money they are owed in part or in entirety. They
view their debt collection as a respectable job, an indication
that there is moral bankruptcy at the corporate level.

The banks have access to the personal data of their credit
card holders: name, date of birth, address, telephone number at
home and at the office and financial information. They also know
about the personal data of family members from the family card.

I hope the authorities and related agencies will take strong
measures in the form of legal and administrative sanctions
against banks which engage in the practices described above. They
should protect credit card holders (in the interest of hundreds
of thousand, perhaps millions, of Indonesian citizens) who have
sustained losses, been treated unfairly, have become victims of
violent actions and extortion under the threat of violence or
defamation, as well as being subjected to terror over the
telephone by the banks or third parties. Their impunity before
the law is a bad precedent for legal supremacy in Indonesia,
where the shackling of the judicial system has taken place.

People aspiring to hold credit cards are advised to study the
banks' reputation in its actions against credit card holders
before submitting their application forms.

RULLY TAUFIK HIDAYAT

Jakarta