Sharing credentials

I was working in the bedroom. It was a regular Wednesday for me. My dad entered the room, this is when I knew there is someone "elderly" in my complex who needs my assistance.

"Mr Joshi will come in the evening to meet you. He has to do something towards the netbanking. Should I ask him to come at 8 PM?" my dad asked me.

"Mr Joshi should visit the bank for the netbanking. I am not the right person. Does he know I am a medical professional and not a financial professional?" I was immediately irritated. Elderly people from my complex ask my assistance for everything from their broken laptops to their bank issues. Frankly I can only answer their queries towards medical and health issues, but apparently I am the "point of contact" for everything.

"He did go to the bank. They told him to get it done from a relative," my dad responded to me.

"Are we related to Mr Joshi? Why I am getting this information today? We missed to invite him to our all family events," I was being deeply sarcastic but dad caught it immediately.

"Okay, enough of your sarcasm. I will tell him to come at 8 PM. Just listen to what he has to ask," dad did not wait for my reply. I continued with my work, thinking what fresh nuisance was going to be served on my plate in the evening.

Mr Joshi arrived exactly at 8 PM. He came armed with bank passbook, chaque book, all letter from the bank, and his phone and tab. He sat opposite me and asked me politely, "my netbanking has been locked. I need your help to unlock it and change the password," he was straightforward with his demands.

"I see that you have all details with you. Let us try or else you will need to visit the bank," I was trying to avoid sounding irritated. I was irritated to be honest.

"This is my account number and customer ID. Do you need anything else?" He asked me.

With the limited knowledge I had I was able to unlock his account. I handed him his device to enter the new password. He looked at me puzzled.

"You set the password," he requested.

"No Mr Joshi I cannot do that. You should set the password and keep it confidential. You should not share it with anybody. It is for the safety of your account and money," I felt like I was doing something forbidden. My heart raced even with the thought of handling a bank account of someone else. It was not something I was going to do.

"It is difficult for me to remember the password. I am too old for this. You set it and tell me," he kept on insisting.

"I cannot do that. You can set the password that is easy to remember like your close relative's name, your wedding anniversary. But you need to do it yourself and keep it confidential," I told him clearly that I did not want to get involved in any financial situation.

"But you will not scam me, I trust you," he said pleading.

"I am not comfortable with this. Either you set the password yourself or seek help from the bank. This does not fit in my morals," I was scared I don't know why. I was shaking with the thought that a stranger was asking ne handle his account.

I excused myself from the situation and returned to nmmy room. The burden of being responsible for someone else's finance was unbearable to me. I told myself that this was the last time I had helped an elderly of the complex.