Are financial institutions really doing what the public wants?
By Medicine Hat News Opinon on October 5, 2018.
When it comes to banks, and the push for customers to use online services, it certainly looks as though the tail is wagging the dog. Not too long ago there was a report of a bank in Toronto being closed for weeks “in order to serve you better.” Customers may have expected to see fresh paint and carpet but it was nothing like that; when it finally opened again the counters and tellers had vanished. In fact you had to speak into a microphone and eventually someone appeared. The customer simply wanted to get change for a large bill but was told the bank was cashless. Last week the Financial Post hinted that this is a trend soon to engulf us. There were statistics indicating 87 per cent of transactions are being done remotely with a prediction that the number would climb to 96 per cent in the next four or five years. The trend though, the CEO of one of the big banks said, was really what people wanted. Excuse me? We have seen bank fees consistently increase beyond inflation and “remote” options are sometimes one of the few ways to limit those fees. Does it mean the customer wanted this? Not necessarily. They perhaps felt they had no choice. Remember the days when stores complained of the high bank fees to deposit cash? Stores were advised to accept debit and credit cards to avoid these fees. Now we are hearing about the high fees retailers are having to absorb from debit transactions and credit cards. Throughout all of this the banks have been sailing through, smiling with big profits. What banks have not addressed yet is the fraud related to credit cards and online banking. It is not a secure system. If you have ever had the frustration of dealing with a company online without being able to speak to a real person who is capable of sorting out a mistake or issue, you understand the frustration waiting ahead. The decline of using cash has also made people less aware of the bills they are paying and generally unaware when there are mistakes. They are also more likely to spend with a piece of plastic or debit machine than using the sobering second thought required to retrieve cash from their wallet. The public will have virtually no say in what the banks decide to do but we can voice our dissatisfaction when they tell us it is really what we wanted. (Gillian Slade is a News reporter. To comment on this and other editorials, go to https://www.medicinehatnews.com/opinions, email her at gslade@medicinehatnews.com or call her at 403-528-8635.) 17-16
