Some Nunavummiut facing challenges with RBC banking system

Some Royal Bank of Canada customers in remote Arctic communities say they’re unable to get remote help on issues affecting their accounts. Samantha Kiguina said both her card and account were locked and she couldn’t get assistance without leaving her community. “I went for an escort to Edmonton,” she said. “I went to Edmonton and got my card fixed.” Situations like Kiguina’s are fairly common in remote communities, according to Araba Impraim, a social worker in Kugluktuk, in northwestern Nunavut. She said that she herself faced roadblocks when trying to assist a community member through a virtual appointment with the bank. “I was sitting with her, trying to help her and security told me to ‘stop talking, don’t help her,’ said Impraim. “Even though she was sitting with me, had given verbal consent. They required her to use her phone to engage in a virtual meeting.” “When they sent her the link, she didn’t have her phone. Because her phone is older, it didn’t have the capacity for her to be able to connect to that link. According to Impraim, the RBC asked her to take a photo of her ID but, again, she didn’t have the proper technology to do so, so eventually she had to actually buy a a plane ticket to go to Cambridge Bay. An RBC spokesperson released a statement regarding the access to services for remote customers. “Clients who reside in remote or isolated areas without reasonable access to an RBC ATM or RBC Branch and require a Client Card PIN reset may contact us by phone to initiate this request without the need for the client to appear in person at a branch. We will continue to work with clients to identify tailored solutions that work best for them,” the statement said. “To support and protect our clients, we partner with a translator service that provides support in over 200 languages, including Inuktitut. While we provide this service 24/7, year-round and make every effort to assist our clients in their preferred language, support in some languages may not be immediately available at the time of a client’s call and may require an appointment.” Impraim added that she wants the bank to take a closer look at those options for service to see if they are actually helping as intended, or creating more barriers for customers who need extra help. “All the hurdles that they have to jump over. We actually had last week, which is what prompted me to reach out to you, a community member who’s deaf who came in to ask for our help because their system doesn’t support people who are hearing impaired,” she said. “There are options on their system, but they actually don’t actually work. So just a lot of the challenges if you don’t have the right technology, if you’re not fully understanding what the requirements are to getting, you know, back into your account when you’re locked out.” Continue Reading