In the United States, about 26% of people admit to not making their payments on time. There are many reasons why people miss payments, but for Bruce Francis of San Francisco, his reason is more of a rarity after Chase Bank misunderstood the memo line on his check.
The Huffington Post reports that Francis was attempting to transfer money from his Chase Bank account to his dog walker’s account, but it was blocked because his dog’s name “sounded like a terrorist network.”
Francis’ nine-year-old dog’s name is Dash. Bank officials though that sounded too much like Daesh, the Arabic term for the jihadist militant group and self-described Islamic State.
Francis was not too upset about the misunderstanding. “I think anything we can do to stop the terrorists and the funding of terrorists, let’s do it,” Francis told KTVU. “If it means an inconvenience to me and my dog walker, then that’s a price I’m totally willing to pay.”
The payment was flagged with the U.S. Treasury Department, and asked Francis to explain what Dash meant. Once Francis explained that Dash is actually his dog’s name, the flag was lifted and his payment was processed.
According to the New York Daily News, Chase Bank officials defended the reasoning for originally flagging the email. “If a name on the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) list appears on a payment, we are required to review it,” Chase Bank said. “This is an important part of ensuring that crime does not filter through the U.S. banking system. In this instance, the payment was flagged, reviewed and eventually released.”
Although a serious issue, Francis found some humor in the misunderstanding.
“The idea that my dog is a terrorist is pretty funny,” Francis said. “Seriously, the only thing Dash could terrorize is a roast chicken.”