The Tribune

By FAY SIMMONS

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

A BISX- listed bank has “centralised” card collections but consumers are complaining about the long lines and wait times.

CIBC last month announced plans to consolidate card collection in New Providence and all cards must be now be collected from the JFK Branch.

Consumers, however, have complained that the decision has led to inconvenient consequences with them having to wait in line for up to two hours.

Speaking to Tribune Business, a consumer that visited the branch to collect a card last week said she had to stand in line for 1.5 to 2 hours only to be told that the card was not ready for collection.

She said the line extended outside of the building and the issue was compounded as it was revealed there were only two members of staff disbursing the cards when she finally got inside.

“I mean, should we really be standing outside in the hot sun on this long line waiting for a card? Its ridiculous!” she vented.

“I toed that line for 1.5 to 2 hours and then you get inside and its only two people giving out cards. I’ve never had to wait at my branch for this long.

Another client said after standing in line for almost an hour his frustrations were compounded by his credit card not being ready for collections.

He suggested the bank should send out notification prompts when cards are ready for collection so clients would not “waste time” and clog the lines if their cards aren’t ready.

“They really should look into sending an email or a text or some kind of notification so clients could know when to come.” he said.

“They told me my card will be ready to collect in ten days so I came in ten days. I have a business to run. If I had known it wasn’t ready, I wouldn’t waste time standing around on this line.”

He added the service he has been receiving from CIBC and other commercial banks has been “subpar and getting worse every year”.

“Fees going up next month, right, so why service isn’t going up?” he questioned.

“All these banks doing it, charging us more and giving us less, something really has to be done about this because it isn’t fair. I can’t slack off on my part, if I don’t pay my loan or my mortgage on time they coming after me so how is it fair they could just make decisions that affect me and my money because my time is my money.”

CIBC revealed that personal, business and corporate banking clients will all experience fee increases as of September 1. The greatest increases are in the monthly service fees, which will rise by 40 percent for personal banking clients, and 25 percent and 20 percent for business and corporate clients, respectively.

This prompted a debate about the regulation of commercial banks by Central Bank with Opposition members and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fred Mitchell calling for the regulator to be proactive in regulating fees.

Kwasi Thompson, the east Grand Bahama MP, called for “real financial consumer protection in The Bahamas”.

He accused the commercial banks of continuing to “pile on” fee increases at the same time as they are cutting back services to consumers via branch closures and such like.

Mr Mitchell said legislators may need to intervene if the Central Bank fails to take more aggressive action on commercial bank fees.

Gowon Bowe, chairman of the Clearing Banks Association, expressed concern that regulating bank fees and services could lead the country towards a “communist state”, describing it as a “very slippery slope”.

In response, Mr Mitchell argued that the real slippery slope would result in improved service in his opinion.

 “Hyperbole is sometimes useful, but in my view, not in this instance. Business people reading that stuff about slippery slope and communist state would think twice about coming to a communist state to do business, if that’s what’s in The Bahamas. So the comment was not helpful, apart from being inaccurate,” he said.

He emphasised that banks are currently regulated; they cannot charge any interest rate they choose and must obtain a licence to operate.

“They have to get a licence to operate. There’s a cap on the interest rate now, right now, but the response from the clearing house bank’s chair portrays a larger issue and problem, which is service to the Bahamian public will not improve if the banks just don’t get it.”

“They keep trying to force us to swallow digitalisation when the internet doesn’t work here. The service are second-rate at the banks, and they charge fees for keeping our money. If the Central Bank does not intervene more aggressively, as they have in Barbados, then perhaps the legislature will have to intervene”.