MAIB | “It’s not a bank. It’s a nerve test.”

I have been a MAIB customer for years. And yes — their app is convenient, maybe even the most convenient of ours. But after enough time you come to understand a simple difference: one is “nice UX”, another is “the bank works for you when you need it”.

I ended up living with plan B for money. Not out of paranoia. From experience. Here are the lessons MAIB taught me:

Lesson #1: “Try later” is not support. It’s sorry.

When everything works, it’s perfect. When you need it now — at home, in a hurry, with people behind — that’s when it can appear: confirmations that don’t come, logouts, “processing” endlessly. And when you call, the basic answer remains the same: “try later.” It’s just that life doesn’t work on “later”. Payments are now.

Lesson #2: Cash-in can mean “cash gone.”

I cashed in at a MAIB ATM. The machine took my money, then showed something like “temporarily not working”. In the account? Nothing. Support: “checking”. The money came back, but not “quickly”: about two weeks later. Two weeks where the bank holds your money and you do what you can.

Lesson #3: The schedule on the door is sometimes… decoration.

On the door it says until 5:00 p.m. In practice, you can arrive at 16:40 and hear “we’ve already closed”. And even if you insist (because you’re right, the schedule is the schedule), they sometimes serve you with the kind of attitude as if they’re doing you a personal favor, not a service during the schedule.

Lesson #4: The ATM eats your card, the bank swipes it, then loses it.

My card was “eaten” by the ATM. I was told to pick it up in a week from the branch. I call, confirm: “yes, it’s there”. I go — it’s not. I call — “it’s 100%.” I go back — it’s still not there. Then the option appears: “it arrived at the operational office.” I get there and the comedy begins: no signs, no clarity, you search Google Maps with the stand. The end: the card is “not with us”, “we don’t know where it is”, then a call: “it’s lost, we’ll issue you another”. That means wasted hours, queues, calls, nerves — for a card that was supposed to be a commonplace item.

Lesson #5: Debit card, but you can end up in the red from a wrong charge.

After the holiday there is a charge of ~€60 made by the merchant (most likely by mistake) on my “empty” card. The transaction goes through, the account goes into the red, and MAIB starts calculating penalties for the “debt”. The dispute moved only after insistence/complaint and after the deadline the transaction was canceled and everything went back to normal. (All the while, I was left with calls, repeated explanations, and stress over a mistake that shouldn’t have happened.)

Lesson #6: You can have a clean record and still be “banned for life”.

I went to ask for a credit offer. No credit. Offer. History ok, salary with them for years. I was expecting a simulation.

Instead: “you can never get credit, you’re banned for life.” Reason: “gambling”. Proof: an old 2022 trade to Binance, framed by them as “gambling”. When I asked logically, the answer was “that’s the rules, there’s nothing we can do”. That’s the kind of label that sticks with you without a clear way to correct it.

Lesson #7: “Security” may come too late, but lockdown comes perfectly on time.

I logged in on a new device on Friday evening. On Monday at 17:40 the app was stuck: “call support”. I was told that the system detected “unknown device” and blocked access “to prevent fraud”.

But if it was fraud, why after three days? Instead, I was permanently blocked when the branches were no longer working, and the unlocking could only be done physically. And as a bonus: I was sent to an “agency” where, after driving around town, I was told: “it can’t be done here, only at the branch.” The result: a day without access to my money.

Lesson #8: Transfer to your own account can become “suspicious”.

I changed the bank. I don’t keep everything to MAIB anymore. When my salary comes in, I move about 70% to my account in another bank. I’m the owner too.

And yet, one day the transfer was blocked, the account was blocked, and the support started with “risk area, fraud, gambling…” and then the question that left me speechless: “What is the purpose? For what purpose are you transferring the money to another bank?” Since when do I have to give reasoned explanations to the bank about how I manage my money?

The irony: just then I had transferred a smaller amount than usual.

Lesson #9: If the bank forgets the request, you pay the “emergency”.

I called ahead of time to announce a larger withdrawal. I chose the branch, the day, everything set. On that day: “there’s no demand, we don’t have the money.” Their solution: “emergency draw” — with a fee. That means their mistake becomes your fee.