The Tribune

By ANNELIA NIXON

Tribune Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

Changing commercial banks is equivalent to “switching one devil for the next”, business owners argued yesterday, asserting that their fee and account opening experience is far different from industry surveys.

Speaking after Bahamians were told to change banks if they are dissatisfied with high fees and poor service, Ethan Quant, founder of Lifestyles Digital Media Group, said every institution has its “pros and cons”. He added that the best way to overcome such challenges is to form relationships with those in the sector who can help move processes along more quickly and efficiently.

“I do agree that you do have different institutions to choose from, and just like any other industry, if you aren’t happy, you do have, quote, unquote, that right to move,” Mr Quant said. “But I think part of the challenge is that the entire system is kind of lacking, and so it’s like you’re switching one devil for the next, because each institution has its own pros and cons.

“And so my thing is, because I bank with several, but what I’ve found beneficial for me is just developing the relationships with people in the institution so that they actually know who you are and you aren’t just an account number and a business name.

“And I find that developing and cultivating the relationships with individuals in the institution actually improves the overall customer service, because now they know who you are. And I’ve experienced that straight across the board. So, yeah, I do agree that you could move institutions, but if it can take you, you know, three, four weeks to open up a new account, that may not be as feasible but, you know, it’s kind of like a deal with the devil that you know, right?”

On the topic of opening accounts, he disagreed with a Central Bank survey which stated 99 percent of new bank account applications are approved - often “in less than a week”. Mr Quant, who said he does mostly online banking, said: “Primarily to my business, I do a lot of online banking, banking transfers, and for the most part, the banks that I work with are pretty decent.

“I mean everything works, but it is a pain at least setting up an account. That process isn’t a week. Just the time it takes to actually get the account open was a pain. But once you get it open and get everything set up... but like I said, primarily I do online banking and mobile banking for my business.

“I think what happened, they sent the information. You fill out all of the forms, account opening forms, send all documentation but there was really no follow through, and so I had to follow up. And, it’s kind of just, oh, well, it’s at this department, that department, to the bank.

“Both of the institutions that I opened it up at really just took long because it was sitting on so many people’s desks. But it just took a ridiculous amount of time, in my opinion, to open up an account,” Mr Quant added.

“From I initiated it with one institution, it took me about four months. And the other institution took me about six months. Part of it was because I just got so tired of following up. And then I eventually had to do what you do in The Bahamas, which is call somebody you know who had to actually end up pushing it up through for me. So I had to call somebody that I knew who was high up in the system. And they were able to kind of walk it through for me.”

Fred Mitchell, the PLP’s chairman, yesterday blasted that “the private sector leaves so much to be desired”. He said: “Well, what was the big chuckle of the week was a headline that suggested that what the public was complaining about with the service by banks was not quite so, because 99 percent of the account applications in the bank were approved. That’s what it said at first blush.

“When you read the details, it said approval within six months. Problem is we don’t need the account within six months. We need it on the day we walk into the bank. Last week, I walked into a bank to pick up a credit card that they said would be waiting in the branch where I bank. I sat for 15 minutes while they looked for it, couldn’t find it.

“Twenty years ago they simply mailed the darn card to me, and I called the telephone number and they pinned the card. I don’t know why I have to come into a bank to do this,” he added. “Anyway, I left the bank, waited in my car. Thirty minutes later they told me they found the card, and the card was at a branch that I’ve never dealt with in my life. When I got to that branch, I found out, oops, bank’s closed at 2pm and not 3pm.

“Oh, well. Ultimately, some lovely lady got the card for me a few days later when I was able to walk again into a bank. But I got to tell you, I felt like I was about to go to the dentist for a root canal as I walked into the bank door. My point today is people complain about the quality and efficiency, or the lack thereof of public services, but Sacre bleu, the private sector leaves so much to be desired, and who and when will bell the cat. It’s an endemic issue. We got to solve this…”

While Mr Quant said he does not “pay attention to bank fees” and just looks “at it as a cost of doing business”, Andrea Carey, owner of AC Enterprises and co-owner of Pops Body Shop based in Tarpum Bay, Eleuthera, said banking fees are “ridiculous”. She pointed to the limited banking options on the island as an added challenge.

“I am so frustrated. I have a checking account that I used to have, overdraft account,” Ms Carey said. “The charges these people charge... They charge you for not using it. Then the prices for small business people, I don’t know what they’re trying to prove. Honestly. The charges are for everything. Even just to go to the bank to check your account.

“They then don’t have no bank on Eleuthera other than Bank of The Bahamas (BOB). You don’t have no RBC or Scotiabank, and you go to try to check your account, they charge you for that. Everything there’s a charge. I said to myself the other day, imagine that. Every action, every transaction you do, they charge $5, $10, $15. Imagine 1,000 people. And it’s the small man. If you don’t have enough money on the account, they charge you. It’s ridiculous.

“So you have BOB in Rock Sound and CIBC in Governor’s Harbour. Then, on Spanish Wells, they have Commonwealth Bank. I bank with all of them. That’s the thing about it. I bank with all. I bank with every last one including Scotia. So I bank with BOB, I bank with CIBC, I bank with Commonwealth Bank and I bank with RBC and Scotia. Scotia is not on the island,” Ms Carey added.

“Peter as bad as Paul. The reason I bank with all of them is because I’ve been with them, like RBC and Scotiabank. I retired two years ago, and I just joined BOB since it came to Eleuthera when Scotiabank moved from there.

“But all the rest of those banks, I’ve been banking with them since I came to Eleuthera over 30 years. So my thing is, I have been with these companies forever, but the prices have now escalated. These prices just started to evolve. It never used to be like that.”