Isn't This Breaking The Law?

[Insight]

Is it legal for a credit card company to call up the personnel dept and ask the status and salary details of an employee?

This happened to a friend who received a call from a credit card company staff that was checking her details. The credit card guy didn't realise he had been put through to the person he enquiring about, and not the personnel department (which doesn't even exist in BKK). My friend didn't initially let on until the CC guy asked for details about her employment status and salary. After revealing to the CC guy that he was speaking to the person he was enquiring about asking for the guy's name he hung up the phone.

Other reason for asking is that this isn't the first time somebody from the company has called up and made enquiries to the wrong person. Once they got through to my friend's colleague, and then went on to reveal the salary details of my friend to that colleague.

Initially I thought it was a bit of a dodgy practice, but I guess it's ultimately the lack of discretion that's resulted in a few headaches. Thought I'd double check however.

[thaicbr]

Normal practice here. even the Embassies do it when processing Visa's. Or at least the UK embassy did with my girlfriends. Happened on my car loan with a slight difference in that the guy came out to my place of work as well as calling.

Allan

[keestha]

I don't think it is illegal to ask a question, but in some cases it might be illegal to answer it.

Am afraid privacy is not always so well protected in Thailand. After a foreigner living in my area had passed away, his sister called me to enquire about an account he had at a Thai bank. I just went to the local branch office of this bank, where they know me, and they told me instantly how much money this guy had at another branch of this bank.

Don't think you could try to pull this trick in Switzerland or in the US.

Edited April 18, 2009 by keestha

[PhilHarries]

In my experience the Thais, or many of them at least, can't understand westerner's fixation with regards to secrecy about financial matters. To them their salary is a source of some pride so they like to flaunt it, maybe ever so slightly embellished though (not that we westerners ever stoop to such things eh? ). At the company I worked for the HR and payroll were all Thai staff and our, farangs that is, remuneration packages were common knowledge amongst pretty well all the Thai staff.

I used to work for the British Ministry of Defence (top secret blah blah blah, if I told you I'd have to shoot you sort of thing ) and there all you needed to know was a persons position and grade, which were common knowledge, and you knew the salary to the last penny. That used to cause some friction I can tell you "He's earning 'x' hundred a year more than me and he's fookin' useless". So I come from a background of openess about pay scales and it was a little alien to move into private enterprise and all the Chinese whispers over salaries etc.

[Chaimai]

Have you checked the small print of the credt card application ?

Most will probably allow the card issuer to make enquiry of credit reference agencies or employers. All part of normal credit risk assessment (and should be done more frequently perhaps ?)

Nothing wrong unless (a) the applicant has made a false declaration or ( has something to hide.

[Insight]

Thanks for all the responses.

Nothing to hide, my friend just thought it was very bizarre to receive a call from somebody enquiring about her salary, but in hindsight I can see why it's required.

[aurelius]

Bank of Thailand requires FIs to confirm that income is above 15k for credit card applicants, and there is a surprising amount of application fraud, even to the extent of embellishing the copies of passbooks that record the salary payments - hence banks tend to take a "proactive" stance with regard to verification of details provided by the applicant, especially if its someone's first card. Also some applicants hook up with their HR departments (or give their own phone number as the HR number), to circumvent the checking.

But training is not universally well done - also the same issue for bill collections (leave a message and say that a debt is unpaid), or leave a message and say that xxxx money has been sent to your account as happened on one occasion when I received an international remittance. They thought they were being helpful.