SMS Banking Terms and Conditions

Terms and Conditions of Service Agreement for SMS Banking & Telephone Banking 

Please read the following Terms and Conditions carefully. Access to and use of SMS Banking is subject to these Terms and Conditions, as amended from time to time.

Interpretations and Definitions

Definitions

Unless the context requires otherwise in these Terms (as defined below), the following terms shall have the following meanings:

“Account” means any account held by you with us from time to time.

“Instruction” means an instruction sent by you to us through the Service.

“Response” means a response sent by us to you through the Service in reply to an Instruction.

“Service” means the SMS Banking service, a bankDirect service provided by us pursuant to which you may request (through an Instruction) and receive (through a Response) information concerning Accounts and transactions via a short message service through a mobile phone.

“Terms” means these terms and conditions (as amended from time to time).

“we”, “us” and “our” means The Commercial Bank of Qatar (Q.S.C.).

“you” and “your” means the customer using the Service.

Interpretations

The singular includes the plural, the masculine includes the feminine and natural person includes corporate body and vice versa.

Access to and use of the service

We will, on a best efforts basis, make available the Service however availability is dependent on 3rd party service providers (including telecommunications providers) and the Service may be interrupted or delayed from time to time by routine maintenance requirements, excess demands on the Service and reasons beyond our control.

The service may only be accessed from the mobile phone registered to you in your bank mandate.

All Accounts held by you from time to time will be enabled for access through the Service.

Where the Service is linked to a joint Account only one Account holder may access and use Service as ‘Subscriber’ and  the Subscriber shall be deemed to be acting for and on behalf of all joint Account holders who shall be deemed to have knowledge of, and consented to, all actions by the Subscriber through the Service.

The Service must not be used to perpetrate any kind of fraud or illegality.
We shall inform you of any prolonged inaccessibility to, or termination of, the Service or any facility or service available thereunder.

The Service is not intended to be used in lieu of any other service provided by us, and in particular you must continue to carefully, regularly and thoroughly check Account statements sent from time to time.

You shall be responsible for payment of airtime and other charges levied by your telecommunications provider in relation to the Service in accordance with their terms and conditions.
Instructions

Instructions sent by you shall, unless proven otherwise, be deemed to be validly, knowingly and genuinely sent by or on your behalf and we shall rely on, and accept as genuine and validly given, any Instruction and we shall not verify Instructions.

Our record of Instructions shall be conclusive evidence of such Instruction and is deemed to be consent by you to issue a related Response (which may contain Account or transaction information) and acceptance by you of liability for the inherent risks involved in the transfer of such information.

Instructions of a transactional nature cannot be reversed.

We shall not acknowledge receipt of Instructions other than predefined Responses relating to certain Instructions.
Responses

We shall use our best efforts to issue a Response however factors affecting 3rd party service providers (including telecommunications providers) from time to time may cause Responses to be delayed or not delivered.  In the event of non-delivery we shall not re-transmit a Response unless we receive another Instruction.

A Response containing Account information is retrieved from our systems real time and is the most recent and up to date Account information as at the time of the Response.  Other Information contained in a Response may not be retrieved real time but is the most recent and up to date information contained on our systems.

We may refuse to send a Response if the related Instruction requires written confirmation of such Instruction.

Certain  Responses may take time to process or may only be sent during ordinary working hours.

Facilities and Services

We may from time to time introduce, modify or delete facilities or services within the Service.  Introduction of new facilities or service may be subject to acceptance of additional terms and conditions.

We may from time to time send messages to you through the Service concerning Accounts or other products and services offered by us.
Security Measures

We shall take all reasonably practicable measures to ensure that access to and use of the Service is secure, and to manage and control the risks in operating the Service.

We may at any time alter, amend or replace any procedure, system, or service within the Service to maintain the encryption, security and confidentiality of the Service.

You must:

keep Account and Service information (including Instructions and Responses) confidential and take reasonable steps to prevent unauthorised access to and use of such information; and not disclose Account or Service information to any third party.

You must notify us immediately of any unauthorised access to and use of the Service or any suspicion concerning 3rd party access to or knowledge of your Account or Service information.

In the event of loss or theft of your mobile phone or SIM card or a change or disconnection of the mobile number linked to the Service you must notify us immediately. 

You may be required to assist us and/or the police in any enquiries relating to a breach of security of the Service.  Pursuant to this we may disclose information relating to you and your Accounts to the police.
You must comply with any additional security measures notified to you by us from time to time.

Fees & Charges

We currently do not charge a fee for the Service but reserve the right to introduce fees and charges at any time upon prior notice to you.

Liability and Indemnity

You shall be liable for, and shall indemnify us against, any costs, claims, damages or losses resulting from:

your access to and use of the Service;

subject to 8(b) below, Instructions issued from, and Responses sent to, your mobile, including retention of Instructions and Responses on your mobile;

your reliance on Responses;

use of the Service amounting to negligence or misconduct;

your breach of these Terms; and

enforcement of our rights hereunder.

You shall not be liable for:

Instructions sent from, and Responses sent to, your mobile after giving us notice of, and reasonable time to act on, a security breach or loss of or change in mobile number; and fraudulent Instructions issued from a third party provided that there is incontrovertible evidence of your nonparticipation in such fraud.

Where the Service is linked to a joint Account and notwithstanding 2(d) above, all joint Account holders shall be jointly and severally liable under these Terms.
We shall only be liable to you for losses suffered by you as a result of a breach of these Terms by us or as a result of our gross negligence or wilful misconduct.
We shall not be liable for inaccessibility to or unavailability of the Service or delay in receiving Instructions and Responses attributable to 3rd party service providers (including telecommunications providers) or due to any other reasons beyond our control.
Termination

You may terminate any non-transactional alert or notification facility or service within the Service (being an alert or notification not linked to or based on a transaction) at any time upon written notice to us.

We may suspend, restrict or terminate any non-transactional alert or notification facility or service within the Service (being an alert or notification not linked to or based on a transaction) at any time.

Termination of all Accounts will result in immediate and automatic termination of the Service.

Termination in accordance with this Clause 9 shall not affect accrued rights and liabilities.
Call Centre

We operate a Call Centre.  For queries concerning the Service, your Accounts, or any other banking facilities or services please call the Call Centre on +974 4449 0000.
We may record calls for process improvement, verification purposes, records and quality control purposes.
Set-Off

We may, at any time and without notice to you, combine or consolidate all or any of the funds held in yours Accounts and off-set such amounts against amounts due and owing to us.

Personal Information and Anti-Money Laundering

In the event any information provided by you in application for the Service changes you must notify us immediately.

Use of the Service is subject to all information requested by us or required by law, rule or regulation (in particular Qatar Central Bank anti-money laundering regulations) being provided by you.  Failure to provide information, or in the event information proves to be incorrect or fraudulent, may result in refusal to provide, or cancellation of, the Service and other banking facilities and services.
In the event of suspicion concerning your involvement in money laundering, terrorism financing or other illegal activities we reserve the right to (i) withdraw the Service and all other banking facilities and services, (ii) set aside funds held in your Accounts, (iii) off-set funds or securities held in your Accounts against any indebtedness to us, and (iv) close your Accounts.  Qatar Central Bank shall be notified accordingly.
Miscellaneous

We shall provide 3rd party telecommunications providers with information relating to you only in so far as necessary to provide the Service to you and facilitate the issuance and receipt of Instructions and Responses.

The Service is the property of Commercial Bank and we retain the copyright interest in all software and documentation relating to the Service, including any subsequent amendments made thereto.

These Terms shall apply in conjunction with any other terms and conditions applicable to banking products or services held by you with us, including but not limited to Account terms and conditions.

These Terms have been executed in Arabic and English languages; in the event of any discrepancy between the languages, the Arabic text shall prevail.
We may amend these Terms at any time in our sole discretion.  Any such amendments shall be posted on our website www.cbq.qa and in our branches and shall be binding on you from the date of such posting.
Governing Law and Jurisdiction

The Service and these Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Qatar.

The courts of the State of Qatar shall have non-exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute relating to the Service or these Terms.  Notwithstanding this we reserve the right to pursue our remedies outside the State of Qatar in the courts of any other appropriate jurisdiction.