Executive Bank plc is a bank that attracts
premium customers, usually international
travellers. As part of its exclusive, and
expensive, gold charge card service,
Executive Bank offers its customers the
opportunity to join, for a small additional
annual fee, its rescue and protection
scheme: the ‘One-Stop’ Protection Service
(OPS). Executive Bank founded OPS in
1982, and at the time the service existed
primarily to protect customers who had
lost credit cards, cash and paper
identification documents. In the late 1990s,
Executive Bank and OPS began to sell
‘white-labelled’ versions of its service to
other financial service providers and also
enhanced the service to cover flight rescue
and emergency accommodation. In the late
2010s, Executive Bank sold the OPS
Brand to Omnium Security, a company
specialising in cybersecurity and cyber
insurance. Over some three months the
two companies transferred all operations to
the Omnium operations support centre in
Leeds, UK. The transfer was assisted by
the fact that most of the original OPS
executive moved to new posts in Omnium.
Few operations staff made the transition,
however, as the original OPS support was
provided from Executive Bank’s
operations in Chichester and not many
people were willing to make the move to
Leeds.
Executive Bank customers were
informed of the transfer of ownership and
operations, but were reassured that the
high standards of support would continue
in the hands of Omnium, and would
moreover be enhanced with Omnium’s
cyber and identity security offerings. On a
quiet Monday in January, Omnium
operations went live to provide support to
many thousands of Executive Bank
customers, as well as customers from other
retail banks and credit card companies.
The OPS offering now included:
 a 24-hour worldwide freephone
number;
 cancellation of all cards via a single
freephone call, text message or email,
as well as the immediate ordering of
replacement cards;
 £10,000 insurance against misuse prior
to notification;
 unlimited cover after notification;
 £5,000 interest-free emergency cash if
the customer is stranded abroad;
 emergency identity theft support,
which included 24-hour access to a
specialist IT forensic support team who
could investigate what data has been
compromised;
 a lost key and luggage retrieval
service, which makes use of ‘smart’
key trackers;
 a smartphone like-for-like immediate
replacement service;
 help in the emergency replacement of
driving licence and passport;
 payment of emergency hotel bills up to
£5,000;
 emergency airline or ferry tickets up to
£7,000, as well as, for ‘stranded’
customers, prepaid access to airport
lounges (where available), restaurants
and premium hotels;
 emergency car hire assistance.
The OPS service brochure claims that it
provides a ‘friendly, efficient and thorough
service to all its customers’ and that it will
‘answer calls, texts or mail triggers within
an average of ten seconds, generate loss
reports to the card issuers within 20
seconds after the initial trigger and always
send prompt confirmation of action taken
with an email and text message to the
customer’.
The following is a letter sent by a customer
after having experienced the service.

6 February
Mr Daniel Payne
Customer Services Manager
Gold Card Customer Services
Executive Bank plc
Dear Mr Payne
I am writing to express my profound
dissatisfaction with the service provided
by your organisation.
At 9.30 a.m. on 17th January I was robbed
while entering a bus near Warsaw railway
station on the way to Warsaw airport. My
wallet, containing all my credit and charge
cards, and a number of personal items, was
stolen. I reported this loss to your Card
Protection Service at 11.00 a.m. on my
arrival at Warsaw airport. I greatly
appreciated the opportunity to make a
freephone call.
I was told that all my cards would be
stopped immediately and replacements
requested. The operator asked if there was
any cash in the wallet. I told her that there
was about £40 in the wallet. She asked me
if I had cash with me and I confirmed that
I had. The operator asked for my mobile
phone number, and when I could be
contacted that evening. This was provided.
I was impressed by the arrival of my
replacement Executive Gold Card on 19th
January.
By Wednesday 24th January all the
replacement cards had arrived with the
exception of my Executive Bank Cashline
card. This was an important card as it was
my main means of obtaining cash. Having
been without the card for a week this was
becoming a problem!
On returning home from work at 8.00 p.m.
on 25th January I found that the card had
still not arrived. I rang the Executive
Bank’s telephone banking service to ask
when I should expect to receive my card. I
was told that the card had been stopped but
no replacement ordered. I was told they
would notify my branch but I should ring
the branch the following day. I then rang
your organisation to try to discover why
the replacement card had not been ordered.
I spoke to James Creek who informed me
that the Executive Bank did not accept
orders for replacement cards from anyone
but the customer and that I should contact
my bank directly. I complained that I had
not been told this, indeed one weekend
gone by, during which I had assumed it
was on its way. James apologised and said
the operator should have told me. I then
asked James if the small amount of cash
that I had in my wallet was also covered.
James told me it was and he offered to
send me a claim form. I asked why the
operator had not checked this with me at
the time. James said she should have done
so and again apologised and promised to
send me a claim form immediately. I felt
very dissatisfied with your service at this
point. One of my card issuers had sent me,
with their replacement card, information
about their card protection scheme, which
I noticed provided free cover for family
members. I pointed this out to James and
asked him to send me information about
your card protection scheme so I could
make a comparison. He agreed to do this
and also offered me free cover for my
spouse for one year to make up for the
inconvenience I had suffered. James told
me that he would contact my bank to try to
sort out the replacement. He sincerely
apologised for all the errors.
On 26th January, I rang my bank to check 4. Why could James order a replacement
that a card had been ordered. My branch on the 25th but the initial operator
confirmed that a replacement had been could not do so on the 17th? Did I need
ordered by your organisation and it should to contact the bank or not?
arrive on the 30th (nearly two weeks after it 5. Why did James not ring me a few days
had been stolen). I complained that it was later, on the 27th for example, to check
that I had received the material he
my main means of getting cash. I was told
promised and that everything was now
there was nothing that could be done,
all right?
though I could call into the bank and they 6. Why did I not receive the material?
would provide me with some cash from 7. Why do you wait till the customer is so
my account. I suggested that might be fed up and has to ask you to sort
difficult as I had a full-time job. something out? I have now made five
telephone calls and written this one
On 30th January, my Cashline card
letter. I have not yet received any call
arrived,
or correspondence from your
with a letter telling me I would have to
organisation. I can only conclude that
wait for a new PIN number to arrive before
you just don’t care.
I could use it. Further, there was no
8. Why do you only do what appears to
material from your organisation. I then
be the minimum possible to deal with
rang and spoke to you and you apologised
an aggrieved customer?
for the incidents. You agreed that the
material should have arrived by now as
Please would you tell me why I should
stationery orders are processed overnight. I
continue to pay the large annual fee for the
agreed to
Executive Gold Card and the additional
wait a few more days.
cost for the Card Protection Service for
this appalling lack of service?
Today is 6th February. I have just received
the PIN number for my Cashline card and
Yours sincerely
have managed to activate it and use it –
nearly three weeks after the robbery. I am
David Smith
still without the promised material from
your organisation.
Question
1. How would you respond to this
I would be grateful if you could answer the
letter?
following questions:

1. Why did the operator not tell me that 2. How would you respond to this letter?
my Cashline card would not be
replaced unless I contacted my bank? 3. What went wrong? (i.e. what were the
2. Why did the operator not tell me that root causes of the failure?)
the cash in my wallet was also covered
by your scheme and volunteer to send 4. Whose fault was it?
me a claim form?
3. Why did the operator not 5. Evaluate James Creek’s intervention.
ring/email/text me in the evening to tell
me about the problem with the 6. How should the organisation respond
Cashline card or to confirm that all the to this letter?
instructions had been carried out? I
would have very much appreciated this
reassurance.