Challenge:

The was an American client who had been a visiting professor in Germany in the fall semester, and had been depositing her paycheck into small, local, German bank. Upon returning to the United States, she tried to contact the bank in order to get her deposits transferred, but nobody there could speak English. She made calls, send emails, and even formal letters, but to no avail. Her American bank was a relatively small community bank that operated in the San Francisco Bay Area only, and had no presence outside of California or internationally. An associate reached out to me ask I could help this individual.

​

Action:

After speaking with the client and collecting copies of her attempted correspondence with the German bank, we reached out to the institution. We approached the bank from the position that they would be rightly suspicious would assume that we were engaged in some sort of attempted fraud. After speaking with the main office, we were informed that each branch was semi-autonomous and that we would have to contact Herr X. Upon receipt of Herr X’s information, I called him and explained the situation. I also forwarded him emails to me from the client so as to establish that I was able to speak for her. I also forwarded him emails from the U.S. bank, complete with wire and account information. I also had the client send him an email directly from her university email account (even though he couldn’t read English) so as to further establish my legitimacy. Finally, I also called him to confirm receipt of the emails.

 

Result:

Within 5 business days from the initial conversation with the client, the client’s money was safely within her American bank account. 

​