My relationship with First Investment Bank goes back 1 year and a half. I first started using their services when I got a debit card and the respective current account. After a while, I decided to go for Online Banking, since I have monthly payments to make and, as I figured it out at that point, that would save me and FIB time and efforts. Apparently, I was wrong and I will tell you why.
First, the registration for online banking and issuance of a browser certificate took almost one week of efforts – had to go to the bank several times and called the Customer service 4-5 times in order to install the certificate on my computer. If you’re thinking that you go one time to the bank, fill out some documents, pay some fees, and then go back home and follow their instructions to install the certificate, then you’re dead wrong.
Second, at one point I had to reinstall the operation system and accidentally – my fault – lost the certificate. No worries, the history repeated itself exactly like in the first part, when I got my first browser certificate issued.
Throughout these times, I opened a couple of savings accounts and I was pretty much happy with them. One good thing about First Investment Bank is the fact that they have very good interest rates for deposits. With the help of the Online Banking system I could easily transfer money from one account to the other – I don’t have to go to the bank, the bank clerk doesn’t have to work with me; everyone is happy.
Two weeks ago I received an email where I was informed that my browser certificate is about to expire and I have to renew it. Nothing new so far since this happens every 6 months. So, last Friday I went to the bank to renew my certificate. Got there, told the guy my problem, and he started working on the issue. After a couple of minutes, he kindly informed me that I forgot to fill out the online form for requesting a new certificate. I guess I skipped that part when I received the email in Bulgarian (even though my Online Banking settings are in English) so it’s pretty much my fault. I headed back to my laptop where I diligently submitted the online form.
On Monday, I went back to the bank again. Got there, talked to another person (Why all those people that were there on Friday miraculously disappeared on Monday?!) and, again, the employee couldn’t find the request for the certificate in the database. I clearly explained to her that I did submit the online form (Thanks Svetla for helping me out) but the only thing I got was that I should go back, call the Customer Service, and fill out the form again on my own (for some reason filling in my name, id number, address, and phone number can’t be done by the bank employees – not in the job description or what?). So, I went back and repeated the procedure, this time assisted by the Customer Service on the phone. Thanks to God, we managed to fill it out and even the nice and helpful guy on the phone confirmed that the form has been successfully submitted.
I headed back to the bank hoping that renewing a simple certificate wouldn’t take the whole day. Got there again and, good news, they can see the request. The bad news came after 20 minutes when the guy came off the phone and told me that they can’t process the whole thing. I was recommended to go back and call the Customer Service and solve my problem with them. Yes, the same Customer Service that told me the form was successfully submitted and the only thing left is to take my Passport and get to the bank.
The Issue
Since I am not a Bulgarian citizen I was issued by the Bulgarian Police a personal identification number (ЛНЧ ≈ЕГН). I wasn’t issued a Serial Number for any kind of ID here – in this particular case Номер На Лична Карта. This is why I have to use my Passport number whenever it comes to that. The problem with this number is that it is one digit shorter than the Bulgarian one. But, of course, there is a solution for this problem: add one 0 (zero) at the end of the number so that the system can recognize it.
This process worked well for the last 1 year and a half, but today. The guy was trying to explain to me that I definitely have to put the Passport number for ЕГН, and my ЛНЧ for Номер На Лична Карта. I clearly stated to him that if I do it that way I would get a big fat error. That’s how I did it before and I saw the result, hence the call to the Customer Service which told me to switch that and add the zero for the passport number. His last sentence was that he can’t do anything about it and that I have to call Customer Service. No time during the discussion he offered to fill out the form and prove that he’s wrong.
So, I am at the bank the third time with the same problem, throughout my endeavor of renewing my certificate I did exactly what they told me so (bank and customer service), and now I am sent back home to solve a problem that is technically not mine, and come back when it’s done.
Well, dear buddies from the First Investment Bank, let me tell you a short story. We’re in the third month of 2010, 3 years after Bulgaria joined the magnificent European Union, and there is a kind of a global crisis out there, affecting Bulgaria as well. Having these factors in mind, I would think that an important bank like FIB would know by this time how to issue/renew a browser certificate for a foreigner (I really-really hope that this is not the case with Bulgarian natives), how to tackle the problems with their clients, and how to make things easy for both parties.
I spent too much time and energy dealing with your problem, the employees I had to talk to got frustrated, and the people waiting in line were not happy at all to wait almost 30 minutes for me to stand up. By the way, why do I get called and asked for my ЛНЧ by the bank employees just to eventually find out that they needed the number in order to cancel my certificate issuance that actually went through? Wasn’t that confidential information which, first, the bank should have about me and, second, they’re not allowed to call and ask for?
For your information, I wouldn’t have written this post if it wasn’t the third time I had to go through this. I got sick and tired of paying visits to the bank and talk to the customer service guys in order to keep my Online Banking running. Ironically, the whole purpose of using this system is to make things easier for your customers (I really liked the fact that I could pay all my monthly expenses online and transfer money whenever I wanted, locally and internationally), and to cut your costs (that’s really cool for you, especially during this period). More than that, your employees will be less frustrated having to deal with one less person.
Maybe you should think about it. As for me, I gave up my Online Banking and you’ll see me every month in your branches paying stuff and transferring money. I guess paying more employees and not cutting costs is not an issue for FIB. But, if you ask me, you’re doing it WRONG.
