Montague lashes commercial banks over ‘poor service’
The Member of Parliament for St Mary Western, the Jamaica Labour Party’s Robert Montague, on Wednesday blasted the country’s commercial banks, accusing them of putting profits above people as he ripped into their “poor customer service”.
Montague went on the offensive while making his maiden contribution to the State of the Constituency Debate in the House of Representatives.
Speaking on behalf of his constituents, he urged Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke and the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) to take steps to ensure that the banks live up to the terms of their licences.
“The people in Western St Mary are having a hard time with their banking needs as the commercial banks have all gone cashless and are charging fees as if it’s going out of style. We are of the view that the banks are putting profits over people,” the former minister of national security stated. He was particularly peeved that banks were charging interest on so-called dormant accounts.
“I am told that the banks credit your account at least twice per year with interest. If this be so, it means that every account has activity at least twice per year. If this is true, how then can an account be dormant? On what basis are they charging a dormancy fee?” Montague questioned. He argued that if there is no activity on these accounts, “the banks need to tell us what they do with interest earned from these accounts”.
“If they lend out people’s money and don’t give back a portion of the interest earned, it’s not only fraud, it’s downright robbery,” he declared while urging Clarke and the BOJ to investigate and fine the banks.
“Plus, every dormant fee charged in the last seven years must be returned with interest. This is a formal report on the matter. If the banks refuse to pay back and stop the practice then minister (Clarke), you must then report the matter to the police,” Montague added. He told his government colleague that it was time poor suffering bank customers get some redress “and that’s why we are turning to you”.
Montague also charged that banks were being carefree with the personal information of their customers. He said that when customers lodge money at ATMs, “the banks now give my money to a third party to collect, count and credit, to my account. My information is in the hands of a BPO (business process outsourcing) operator without my knowledge or consent. If this third party does not lodge my money on time, the bank then goes ahead and charges overdraft fees, again, no operating standard”.
Continuing, he said: “My information can be sold to lotto scammers, they are now scamming in island. A new industry has started. Many people are seeing funds going missing, credit cards running up massive balances and all kinds of funny activities on their accounts. But the banks don’t hold themselves liable; they hold the people of Western St. Mary and other rural towns liable”.
“The minister of finance and the BOJ must act,” he said.
And Montague suggested that a double standard existed in the way banks are treated when compared to how operators of public passenger vehicles, in particular taxi operators, are treated. Stating that the possession of a banking licence was a privilege, Montague noted that the issuer of the licence, the BOJ can rein in the offending entity.
“Don’t tell me that neither you (Clarke) nor the BOJ has no power to do so. The government has a big stick, use it,” Montague demanded.
“How then do you run down a taxi man? He has a licence too and you beat up on him when the service is not up to par or if he breaches. Or is only poor people we have strength for? If you cannot touch or rein in the banks, then don’t touch the taxi operator. There must be one rule, one principle for all,” the Western St Mary MP said.
He said the banks should be given 60 days to get their house in order. He said he was only asking for better customer service from the financial institutions and insisted that there must be operating standards and penalties if they are breached.
He also told the House that his constituents were calling for a longer transition period before the banks go cashless.
“We agree that going cashless is the way of the future, but the move is too sudden. Older persons are being forced to expose their account information and pin because they can’t manage the ATM process. People are at the ATM willing and waiting to assist them, then thief them money,” he said.