Write it down in the booklet – black and white, please!
To Milan Milanović, after the expiry of the term, the bank refused to return the deposited money and pay the agreed interest according to the savings account agreement, according to which he deposited funds in the amount of 12,000.00 KM for a period of 37 months.
As a reason, the bank stated that in its records it only has an order for the payment of the mentioned funds to Milan from his current account and that there is no order from him for payment to the savings account.
Milan confirmed that the signature on the payment order was his, but that nothing had been paid to him, but rather, 37 months ago, he had issued an order to a bank employee to pay the funds from his current account as a savings deposit, which he also concluded in the contract with the bank.
We wonder what actually happened? The explanation is quite simple. First, the employee on behalf of the bank concluded a contract with Milan for the deposit of 12,000.00 KM for savings for 37 months. Milan wanted to pay that money by transferring funds from his current account.
However, the employee made him a “payment order” from the current account at the cash register, not a transfer order from Milan’s current account to the savings account. And , Milan, a client of the bank for many years, full of trust in people, hastily signed such an order without checking its content.
When everything was finished, the bank employee simply appropriated the allegedly “paid” 12,000.00 KM, because it was “surplus” funds at the bank. Thus, the balance of funds corresponded to the balance in the bank’s records, and the bank had the next 37 months to manage the money as it pleased.
Of course, this is about someone’s illegal actions, and the bank, as well as Milan himself, took action before the competent authority, but at that moment the bank could not confirm whether the money had been paid to Milan or not, nor could Milan prove that deposited a deposit of 12,000.00 KM for savings. That is why the bank insisted on waiting for the court’s decision on everything, which created a serious problem for Milan, after three years and the expected return, and the entire situation legally became extremely uncertain.
In addition to complying with the prescribed instruction to issue a payment order to the bank on a form that must first be filled out by the user – the orderer (and only then by the bank employee), this lesson should teach us that it is extremely important that the depositor, when depositing funds for the purpose of savings, requires that the bank issues him a savings account. And, just so you know, there are frequent negotiations with bank officials regarding the issuance of the passbook! They don’t give, so they don’t even though it is an express obligation of the bank prescribed by law. Because, apart from the order for payment (payment) – a piece of paper that is often lost, depositors do not have any other proof of payment, i.e. withdrawal of money.
In Milan’s example, the payment of 12,000.00 KM would have to be recorded in the savings book, which would represent significant proof of the payment. And finally, you should know that the savings account contract is a unilaterally binding contract, which means that it creates obligations only for the bank.
Afterword – Where is it written?
Article 1043. and 1044. paragraph 1. of the Law on Obligations (“Official Gazette of the SFRY” No. 29/78, 39/85, 45/89 and 57/89 and “Official Gazette of the Republic of Srpska” No. 17/93, 3/96 , 39/2003 and 74/04) unequivocally prescribe that the bank issues a savings book to the depositor, that all payments and withdrawals are entered in the savings book and that these entries, confirmed with a seal and signed by an authorized person of the bank, are proof of payments and withdrawals in relations between the bank and the investor.
Also, payment/disbursement orders are completed by the principal in accordance with the Instructions on the form and content of payment orders and procedures for the execution of payment transactions (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Srpska” number 86/02, 95/05 and 40/19).