Hi to all !
Even before the bank began telling us fairy tales about the translation and sent out forms, I proposed to collect a class action and consulted with an international lawyer and that's what he wrote to me:
My colleagues and I got into the situation.
Indeed, it makes sense to prepare a complaint regarding the violation of consumer rights of financial services. We can build on the following facts and assumptions, which we found in addition to your description:
As follows from the initial notification of Payoneer, Firstchoicepay is one of the commercial names (brands) under which Payoneer operated until recently (it is not specified through which legal entity) together with Choice Bank Ltd (registration number is 155716). The latter is registered in Belize, positions itself as an offshore bank, but still carries out its activities.
Potentially, Payoneer could use for this purpose its own company Payoneer Payment Solutions Ltd, registered in Belize (registration number - 88589). But detailed information on the legal entity, which directly owns Firstchoicepay, is absent.
There is only indirect evidence that Payoneer owns the Firstchoicepay brand. This is the mentioned notification from the payment system itself about the transition to the specified brand. As follows from hyperstat.com, the site with the domain name "firstchoicepay.com" is registered with Amanda Shafton, who represents Choice Bank Ltd.
Due to the lack of data on the legal entity for which the brand is registered, we can follow two strategies.
The first is to presume that Firstchoicepay is registered to a separate legal entity that is not formally associated with Payoneer. In this case, the strategy consists of requests to the state bodies of Belize to provide relevant information about the company and, consequently, filing a complaint against such a company and the correspondent bank. Here it is necessary to understand that Belize is offshore, and state bodies tend to refuse to provide any information about local companies, except for and so publicly available. Therefore, this process can lead us to a dead end.
Therefore, the second approach is advisable. We assume that a separate legal entity called "Firstchoicepay" does not exist. We also presume that all responsibility for the quality of services provided under this brand should be borne by Payoneer, who automatically transferred you as a client to a different service, and, in fact, (b) the bank that suspended the provision of services. Such responsibility to the client (the consumer of financial services) should be solidary; this means that you can file a complaint with any of these designated entities. Moreover, it may be a parallel process that may result in a) compensation for losses from Payoneer and b) administrative sanctions for the bank, including, possibly, loss of license.
We can prepare and file a complaint. We can not guarantee the result, because, firstly, platforms such as Payoneer often prescribe a lot of disclaimers in their rules; secondly, both Payoneer and the servicing bank can write off the entire situation to external circumstances that occurred (withdrawal of the license / suspension of cooperation with Mastercard).
We need to further explore the issue of financial responsibility (in this case) as such, the collection of information about the problem, the applicable law (legislation), and the choice of the defendant (or at first simply the company to which we will complain).
After studying, we will prepare a complaint and, if necessary, hold negotiations with Payoneer
