It is high time that legislation be introduced to prevent the financial institutions-namely, the banks-from continuing with their unhindered level of control as it exist in T&T.In developed nations, financial institutions are prevented, through legislation, from colluding when it comes to prices on services and products. Not so in this developing nation. Through the Bankers Association of T&T, banks get away with "murder" while providing "shoddy" service.Some months ago, it was mentioned on the nightly news that the Financial Ombudsman only received 12 official complaints in 2010. As a result, the conclusion was that individuals are generally satisfied with the level of service.
From my perspective, this is not so. I have had serious service-related issues with two different banks over the last six months that, in more developed markets, such as Canada, customers would not tolerate. A month ago, I was at a bank in Chaguanas and the lines were so horrendously long that customers were mumbling and obviously very dissatisfied. Yet, they do not complain to the relevant authorities. Why? That is simply our nature.At one particular bank, cheques from another bank, once deposited into your account, now takes five working days to clear. Why? The argument is because of the state of emergency. This is ludicrous.
There is absolutely no reason to have five working days. If I make an online credit card purchase, in less than two seconds, the funds are debited from my credit card. This is the world of technology. Why, then, must it take five working days? Because of the float!
Bitter experiences
Banks make enormous amounts of money by holding on to peoples' funds for three days, far less five. Think about it. If they have access to your cheque, say $100,000 for five days-I say have access because if I deposit a cheque into my account, the monies are debited from the account of the person who issued the cheque that same night-think of the interest that the bank can earn if they have that same $100,000 circulating as a loan to someone else. Then multiply that figure by hundred of thousands of customers who are in similar situations.
A few weeks ago, I deposited a cheque into my account. This occurred at 8.14 am on Friday. I was told that the cheque would take five working days to clear.I hastily told the teller that this was wrong. He smiled and said that he understood, but that this was the instructions received because of the state of emergency. I told him that the bank is holding people to ransom. He laughed this time and agreed. Mind you, he was extremely courteous as if he totally empathised with me.
Lo and behold, I would have thought that by Friday of the following week, the funds would be available in my personal account. It was not until Monday morning-nine calendar nights after-that I had access to my funds. Clearly, the cheque was "posted" to my account the Sunday night. Now, you tell me: is this not a crime in itself?I have had many more (and heard many more persons complain bitterly) very unfortunate experiences with these banks and attempted to finally complain to the Financial Ombudsman.
I visited the Web site to try and understand the procedure and protocol. To my amazement, the procedure is very complex and extremely time-consuming and not user-friendly. This is why the only received 12 complaints last year. Make it simpler and less time-consuming (and promote it to the public) for a customer to voice their frustration and you would be surprised.I would like to suggest to the public to visit online Zeitgeist The Movie. It gives a perspective of the power of financial institutions in society. http://zeitgeistmovie.com <http://zeitgeistmovie.com/>
Paul Burke
via e-mail