A Pakistani businessman in Banjul has accused Trust Bank of ripping off customers by overcharging them for transferring money to foreign bank accounts.
Mr. Aslam, who is one of the major rice importers in the country, claimed the private bank was secretly overcharging him on international transfers.
“I opened a dollar account in June last year, hoping to transfer money to my family in Pakistan due to the unavailability of Western Union at that time. So I started with $500 and transferred $450. I paid D1000 to the bank for the transfer only to later find out that my family in Pakistan didn’t receive the entire $450. They only got $330,” he said.
According to Aslam, when he contacted Trust Bank, officials there told him the money passed through a lot of banks before reaching Pakistan and the banks deducted their transfer charges.
Last week, he also discovered that part of his balance disappeared from his account and no reason was given by the bank.
“I closed my dollar account with them. I had $50 left and this was indicated in the withdrawal slip, but I was only given $10 and still I don’t know where the $40 disappeared to.”
One of Aslam’s Gambian assistants slammed Trust Bank for taking money from customers without reason.
He said: “It’s just frustrating. He lost in total $160.”