Banking challenges and horrors for seniors in times of COVID-19

BY FAZAAD BACCHUS

It is not unusual to see seniors with their check books in their hands. This is the way of life they have known for a long time now and it’s the way they are accustomed to doing business. Writing checks and going to the bank to deposit checks is part of their everyday lifestyle. COVID-19 has come along and disrupted this lifestyle. Imagine a senior at home, needing to pay their bills and then taking the bus over to the bank only to find out that it’s closed, could be quite traumatic. On the other hand, if the line is long, there are no special privileges for the elderly, so there could be a 20 minute line up. There are also no shelters, so if it starts to rain or in some cases recently, flurries, then the senior is left out in the cold.

Some seniors have come to depend on relatives and in so doing have shared their account numbers and sometimes their sensitive information such as PIN numbers etc. This augers well as a short term measure during this difficult period but it poses a different challenge going forward, the potential for fraud and financial abuse. A senior may very well find out that money has been withdrawn from their bank account without their permission, and while they believe the act is fraudulent, it is not refundable by the bank. The bank’s position is that you gave your PIN and card to someone you trusted and does not constitute negligence on the part of the bank.

Another move by some seniors is that they have actually decided to make their current account, jointly owned with a family member. All of this is in the interest of convenience and especially so due to COVID-19. The family member goes to the bank and does all the day to day transactions etc and everything seems okay, until it is not. The senior is again at the risk of financial abuse, the family member can withdraw money from the account only to be found out at a later date. Again this does not constitute negligence on the part of the bank and so the money is not refundable. The senior can report the matter to the police, but in many instances it’s a long arduous process to recover the money. Sometime seniors also do not want to get family members in trouble and will overlook the matter.

Some seniors have attempted to engage in internet banking, but many are not familiar with computer usage and are scared that they could be hacked and lose all their savings. Seniors are accustomed to walking in to the bank. Some are trying out tele-banking, but the wait time for an attendant to speak has gone up tremendously.

Should you decide to trust a family member, then it’s recommended to change your PIN when this is over as well as remove the family member from the joint account to prevent any unauthorized withdrawal.