The 'electronic' vs. 'digital' debate continues.
'Digital Transition' is just a WEF marketing campaign.
TD bank’s Senior Consumer Complaints Office (SCCO) wrote back to me a couple of days ago. My complaint was dismissed again (The third of four steps in this process). We must all submit to the new ‘Digital Banking Agreement’ or be excluded from the economy; or that’s what the WEF (and TD bank, to this point) would like for those of us who won’t just passively go along with the ‘Digital Transition’ (it would appear).
Interestingly though, there are exceptions (as you will see below), and I do believe the folk at TD bank are now questioning the wisdom of being on the forefront of this move. I hope TD will eventually see reason and back away from its misguided ‘digital’ misadventure. I also hope other Canadian financial institutions will think twice before moving ahead with their ‘Digital Transition’ plans; it does seem as if this has been (is being) a very costly mistake for TD bank.
With Vanguard now backing away from Net Zero, (according to Reuters), and BlackRock (which came up with ESG) apparently filing for Chapter 11 (Google this), it seems no one (not even the banks) can keep up with the WEF’s ‘Global Governance’ debacle. This ‘digital’ infatuation, if we are persistent, will follow suit.
In case you don’t read all the way down to the bottom of this piece, I will insert the following here.
“[T]here is no excuse to not put in place a National Digital Charter that protects Canadians from Digital ID abuse from both government and corporations.”
Until this protection is in place, no bank should be forcing a digital transition on its customers, because a Digital ID will likely be the next step.
Those of you subscribed here, or on my regular mailing list, will receive more on this; for now though, I hope you will find my response to the TD Senior Customer Complaints Office of interest. There are some important changes happening, and some of them are exceedingly positive. You’ll be happy to hear, for example, that the new LYNX system, underlying all of Canada’s financial Institutions, is absolutely not digital.
Thank you for reading on,
David
SENT: 3:11 pm June 15th, 2023
Dear (‘Senior Customer Complaints Officer.’)
Thank you for your response. You and your team worked very hard, given the SCCO only reviews 'operational issues.'
Naturally, I'm not in agreement with the outcome of this review, and I will continue the complaint process, as mentioned in earlier correspondence.
You may recall I suggested in a reply to Customer Care, it might be easier to just pass me straight along to the 'Ombuds Office,' as I knew this wasn't something the SCCO would be able to address either. I did mention this was a business issue. One of the letters received stated:
'it is not within the mandate of this Office to influence business decisions.'
It would be nice to speak with Mr. (X) directly, as he is the one who sent out the letters that have annoyed so many people, and caused you all this work.
There were many other points not responded to in your 'Position' letter, but I know your office can't do anything as I'm questioning the 'operating policies and procedures' themselves, while your role is to simply assure that established procedures have been followed, to the letter. I hope, therefore, that you pass this email along; as someone, in some department, should be able to address the issues I'm raising.
It's interesting that the bank has different conditions for different categories of customer. As your letter states, on the subject of access card use:
'Different versions of letters were sent to different customers as applicable, depending on their specific banking relationship.'
While one customer can use an access card without agreeing to the Digital Banking Agreement, others can't, which would suggest these decisions are purely arbitrary business decisions (not the result of technical issues).
Perhaps this is the difference between a personal and a business banking 'relationship'?
Either way, the technology underlying this service is the same, so the decision to exclude one category of customer, and not another, is unfounded.
To again underscore my point. Access cards, online banking, e-transfers, e-statements, etc., should not be re-defined as 'digital;' they do not belong in the Digital Banking Agreement.
To provide further evidence for this statement (in addition to the numerous points delineated in my previous letter), when the Bank of Canada switched over from its previous 'electronic' Large Value Transfer System (LVTS) to the New LYNX system, the banking system as a whole might have adopted the term 'digital.' It didn't. (This system, as you know, is for moving central bank reserve 'settlement balances' in and out of commercial bank reserve accounts at the central bank, in the clearing process; and this electronic system underpins TD's day to day banking operations). The Bank of Canada, as you see below, continues to refer to this key system as 'electronic':
1 A brief overview of Lynx
Lynx is Canada's high-value payment system—an electronic wire system that facilitates the irrevocable transfer of payments in Canadian dollars between participating financial institutions (FIs).1 Owned and operated by Payments Canada, Lynx began operations on August 30, 2021, replacing the Large Value Transfer System (LVTS), which had been in operation since February 1999. (my emphasis)
So TD's existing services are still 'electronic,' but the bank is adding new 'products' that the people in the marketing department clearly want to call 'digital.' These new products and services are the only ones that might be covered by the Digital Banking Agreement ("DBA"); individual product terms and conditions would be the best way forward, I would suggest. The bank still provides traditional electronic services, as it has for decades (such as the above mentioned online banking, e-transfers, e-statements and, of course, access cards too), and all of these are based on the terms of the existing ('not replaced') 'electronic' agreement (that TD customers already accepted).
I have heard from a source at one branch that TD has been losing 1000 customers a week; as a result of this issue presumably. Obviously I can't verify this, or provide my source, but I know how many people were lined up in my bank, papers in hand, and I personally know well over a dozen people who have already moved to other institutions, on point of principle. I had yet another email, just this morning, from a friend who has also moved all of her savings out of TD, because of this clumsy attempt to coerce people into accepting this 'digital' re-branding. There will be many more leave as well, unless TD stops creating problems for its long-standing and loyal customers (those who are not interested in the bank's new 'digital' products) and I'm certain TD does not need a further exodus of customers right now.
To help resolve this problem for the bank, I would suggest that for now, these customers (myself included) be 'grandfathered in.' A newly issued electronic banking agreement, "EBA" lets call it, could stand alongside the new Digital Banking Agreement ("DBA"), for those people who are not interested in going digital. Or simply re-issue the "DBA" excluding online banking and access cards, or as a 'product specific' set of 'terms and conditions.'
The above, I believe, would solve your immediate problem of strained customer relations, increasing redemptions and account closures.
There are also big questions (still to be explored) around the 'The Agile Nations Charter,' Bill C-27 'The Digital Charter Implementation Act' (still being debated) and the 'Personal Information and Electronic Documents Act.' The best PR move TD could make, on this front, would be to very publicly end its relationship with, and membership in, the WEF; but I can't get into all of this here.
A TD bank letter to another friend, just two weeks ago, vehemently insists that 'Digital ID' is not mentioned in the agreement. That is correct, however:
Are we to understand that TD will not demand its customers have a digital ID in the future?
I would suggest this be written into a new 'Electronic Banking Agreement.'
It is likely there will be a political regime change in Canada soon, and Mr. Poilievre is already telling us that people should have the right to opt out of these digital technologies (without being shut out of the economy, as TD is suggesting for its customers). More and more people are becoming aware of the dark side of the proposed 'digital transition,' and all it entails. An increasing number of people don't want more technology, with all the cybersecurity threats and breaches we hear about. They don't want 'Open Banking,' Digital IDs, programmable CBDCs, or any of these things, and a healthy free market should respond accordingly. Perhaps TD should lead the way on this?
As Dr. Leslyn Lewis stated in a recent commentary on this subject:
'[T]here is no excuse to not put in place a National Digital Charter that protects Canadians from Digital ID abuse from both government and corporations.'
Until this protection is in place, no bank should be forcing a digital transition on its customers, because a Digital ID will likely be the next step.
Though I am certain you and your staff will not be happy to hear back from me, I do hope you can answer the highlighted questions here, and pass me along to someone within the bank itself, so I can discuss some of these technical, business. legal and marketing matters further.
I thank you again for your time and understanding.
David Ward
What a well-written response David!