The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Why is it that the same handful of Canadian banks continue to hold the Bahamian people hostage after all these years? Why are these banks even operating in The Bahamas when they clearly don’t want to interact with or have anything to do with our citizens and only serve customers grudgingly, as if they were doing us a favour?

One, or if you’re lucky maybe two tellers on duty, no matter how long the line is. Everyone in the background seeming to be always on lunch break. No one at the “Help” desk. Replacement cards never, ever ready on time. Near impossible to get a loan for anything. Totally impossible to talk to a real person in a timely fashion. Laughable banking hours. Terrible attitude and zero customer service. It appears that all they want is for us to deposit our savings, so they can seemingly use our money to make their bosses in Canada rich, and then they are done with us.

And the worst part is, our own domestic banks have begun following this example, sliding into the same terrible, dismissive, negligent practices, the same culture of disregard for regular customers.

I recently visited an American friend and got a glimpse of the totally different world that is banking in the United States. It was a revelation! I accompanied my friend to her branch, on a Saturday no less, and witnessed the prompt, helpful, courteous service (with a smile!) that she enjoyed, just as any patron of any business should. She was made to really feel like her patronage was valued, as did everyone else in the branch that day. It truly was like day and night compared to The Bahamas. According to my friend, this was nothing new or special, it is how customers are regularly treated by banks in America.

Is there any good reason why we don’t have American banks in The Bahamas? If there is no legal barrier, we should invite all to come here post-haste. We should roll out the red carpet for the American banks, and for any other international commercial bank that knows how to treat its customers with respect and dignity.

At the moment, we are stuck with terrible service because of a lack of choice, and the banks know it full well. They are no doubt laughing at us. But I would just love the see the faces of their executives when a bright, shiny Wells Fargo or Bank of America opens up in Nassau.

RICKY JOHNSON

Nassau,

June 27, 2022.