A court in Abu Dhabi has ordered a local bank to refund a customer Dh92,854 and officially close his credit card account after the financial institution failed to justify its outstanding charges. The legal battle began when the customer, who had been using the card since 2013, insisted he had already paid off his balance—and even overpaid—only for the bank to continue pursuing him for additional interest and fees. When the case reached the court, the bank claimed its original records and loan agreements had been destroyed in a fire, leaving them unable to provide any documentation to prove that the customer had ever agreed to the specific fees or compounding interest rates being applied.

A court-appointed expert conducted a thorough audit of the account, discovering that the customer had actually paid back Dh1.605 million against withdrawals totaling Dh1.403 million. By stripping away unauthorized compound interest and fees that the bank couldn't validate, the expert determined the bank actually owed the customer over Dh92,000. The court upheld these findings, rejecting the bank's objections due to a lack of evidence. Consequently, the bank must now provide a formal debt clearance certificate, cover the legal costs, and pay the determined refund along with interest accrued since the lawsuit was filed.