The Tribune

THE topic of banking reform has been in the headlines of late – and while the focus of the discussion has been on regulation, for most citizens they care most about the frustrations of the day-to-day experience.

In today’s Tribune Business, a story details a report from the Central Bank, which details which bank has the highest – and lowest – fees in a range of categories.

That is but one part of the equation, however. One might read the story and think oh I will switch to this other bank, because that suits me better – but that is sometimes easier said than done.

In today’s Insight section, you can read about some of the frustrations people have experienced – from lengthy delays in opening an account to excessive fees on wire transfers that are far greater than those charged by banks in other nations.

You can also read in today’s Tribune of some of the proposals by FNM leader Michael Pintard for tackling some of the issues surrounding banking.

Changing banks is not a common occurrence for most people. It is not just changing the bank itself, but changing all the payments connected to our account. The mortgage, the utility bills, the deductions and so on. It is a hassle, so people have to be very motivated to actually do it.

Then there are the other frustrations – such as the difficulty with carrying out international transactions, say, or online banking that is sometimes less intuitive than we are encouraged to believe.

There are changes we find frustrating – like the recent move by one bank to relocate its card pickup to a single location, with the end result that people queued for two hours and more, sometimes only to find the card was not there to be collected anyway.

There are two sides to the equation, of course. Customers want services that are efficient and not too expensive. Banks want to offer services too – but they have to cover the costs.

The suggestion of tightening regulations on banks – be it through the Central Bank mechanisms or through legislation – have been greeted by suggestions that this would be a slippery slope. The word “communist” was even mentioned at the prospect of regulations – though there are plenty of capitalist nations that regulate banks appropriately. Appropriate being the important part of that.

We do not want to clamp down on the bank sector so much that there is no reason for them to do business here, nor do we want to permit excessive fees that harm the consumer overly.

What is left is a middle ground. But it is a middle ground that needs to be found not just for the consumers we have today but for the market we have tomorrow.

There is a lot of talk about digital banking, but that exists in an environment hit too often by power outages, internet outages, infrastructure failures. Then again, non-digital banking can equally often be hit by ATMs that don’t work or particularly on the Family Islands are not serviced often enough to keep them up and running.

Banking has a cost. That staff member you want to answer the phone quickly has a salary. That ATM has an installation cost. And so on. It has to be paid for, but fairly.

We hope that the conversation that has started has not just begun because we are in the summer doldrums when Parliament is in recess – and that the conversation continues with the goal of helping to ensure citizens have the banking services they need at a price that is right.

But a strong banking system is not just something we need now – if we truly want to attract international investment, then it is something we need to build on for those opportunities.

We hope that goal can mean this is more than just talk.