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WHEN Madam Poh Guat Cheng went to withdraw money from the POSB branch at Tiong Bahru Plaza last month, she was shocked to discover that the account had been closed.
What shocked her even more was subsequently learning that all $48,000 in the fixed-deposit account had been withdrawn in 2007.
Madam Poh said she hardly monitored the account as it was opened jointly with her 89-year-old mother, who suffers from dementia and is unable to recognise friends or even family members.
Perplexed, she contacted the bank and was told that the money had been transferred to a new joint account set up by her mother and someone else.
This, Madam Poh said, was done without her knowledge or consent.
Her mother is unable to remember who she set up the new account with.
Said Madam Poh, a 54-year-old housewife: "The bank said it had complied with all its regulations. As long as one account holder is present with an identity card, and her thumbprint is on the withdrawal slip, it's okay? But it really isn't."
Her main grouse is that the bank should have exercised greater vigilance.
A spokesman for DBS Bank, of which POSB is a subsidiary, told my paper that any party sharing a joint-alternate account may make decisions, such as closing the account, without consent from the other parties.
DBS declined to comment on this case, citing customer confidentiality, but added that "banks cannot unilaterally invoke any sanctions on customers' accounts even if the customer is mentally incapacitated".
Madam Poh said: "The bank should have done a better job of protecting my mother, who cannot even recognise us, much less fill up a form and close an account."
In a 2008 case, an OCBC Bank officer raised the alarm because of doubts over customer Hwang Cheng Tsu Hsu's mental capacity to handle her bank accounts when she demanded to close all of them. Madam Hwang was 93 at the time.
After an assessment by the bank, which included a home visit, OCBC decided to freeze Madam Hwang's accounts containing $8.9 million.
Mr Dennis Tan, OCBC's head of branch & premier banking, told my paper: "When we come across cases where we are concerned about a customer's mental capacity to make decisions regarding his account, we would try to obtain more information."
OCBC's officers are also trained to observe customers and pick up signs, such as if there is influence and coercion exerted by a third party on the customer.
A spokesman for the Office of the Public Guardian, which comes under the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, said: "In a fast-ageing population like Singapore's, with a rising number of dementia cases, the need for all adult Singaporeans to make proactive plans to protect their personal and financial matters is even more compelling."
The spokesman highlighted the Mental Capacity Act, which provides for adult Singaporeans to appoint proxy decision-makers to act in their best interest should they lose their mental capacity.
The Act came into effect on March 1 this year.
For now, Madam Poh hopes to get a "proper explanation" from the bank.
She said: "How about people like us, who are already stuck in this situation? Legal means are costly and time-consuming. The money and time would be better spent on my mother."
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