Emma Loughnan

Review of ME Bank

I've waited a year to post this however a year lat...

I've waited a year to post this however a year later I still feel potential customers deserve to know how 'the peoples bank' really treats people. I was a loyal ME bank customer, so much so that I had imagined the day when I was in charge of the family trust I would transfer the dividends to ME. I had a credit card, personal loan and everyday account with them. I worked full time and paid rent. In late 2016 I was involved in an incident that over 2017 resulted in PTSD and my no longer being able to work a full time job. I'm lucky enough that my parents stepped in to distribute trust payments to me so I could focus on recovery. This, with casual work - my income was more than it was when I had a full time job. After I received a Victims of Crime distribution, I paid back an extra $8k off my personal loan but soon after, I had discovered the high stress my body had gone through had made my body ill and I needed an operation. I applied for a loan that was the equivalent of retrieving the $8k back as ME don't allow you to redraw on your loan. It was denied because I couldn't prove my income even though ME had access to my account and could see how much was regularly coming in. In review, they told me once again my income 'didn't count' and none of the above was relevant. Common sense was not used at any level of the organisation to make this decision. I had to transfer all my business to a new bank that didn't have the same problems ME had with me. I was extremely disappointed at a very vulnerable time in my life and they hung a loyal customer out to dry.