Bank Service Charges Need Review

IT is with some amusement and a great deal of anger that I note the recent efforts by a certain Namibian bank to launch a new product targeting lower-income groups and people who have never availed themselves of formal banking services.

The resources this bank invested in aggressively promoting its product might have been better spent on a thorough investigation into why so many Namibians are reluctant to deposit their hard-earned money into any national banking institution. Perhaps such an investigation would have shown that Namibians are very well aware that the colossal service charges levied by banks in this country are a global anomaly.Very few other nations’ banks charge an account holder any fees, provided that their account remains in credit.For Namibians with smaller amounts of money at their disposal, these peculiarly Southern African fees will always represent a significant – even prohibitive – monthly expense, although they are levied at a reduced rate.Should anyone have the time to meet formally with a Namibian banking official they will discover that this person explains, with a completely straight face, that the bank fees are necessary to pay for infrastructure, wages and security.Presumably these administrators are somehow unaware that banks in other countries also have vaults, staff, ATMs, computers and telephones, but that the solvent customer is not expected to pay for these through a monthly set of charges that far outweigh any interest they may be earning.Perhaps they are similarly unaware that foreign banks offer a far better service than what is available from Namibian banking institutions which, for all their expensive technology, expect you to go in personally and queue throughout your lunch break in order to amend a stop order (for example) which was incorrectly processed by bank staff in the first place.All of this makes me question where my excessive banking fees (levied on an account which has, over many years, never been overdrawn) are being spent, since it is manifestly evident that banking administrators here are not being kept up to speed on the global banking environment, and specifically the principle that people who strive to keep their accounts ‘in the black’ should not then suffer financial penalties.Banking in Namibia is ripe for a revolution.One way to achieve this would be for all of us to withdraw all our funds immediately and then sit back and see how long the banks remain in business (if it is true, as they claim, that it is our fees that maintain their infrastructure, rather than simply the interest they charge on bonds and other loans).Unfortunately, I doubt there are enough lunch breaks in this millennium for us to implement this strategy since it has always proven impossible to actively manage one’s account here by such innovative methods as sending a fax or making a personal telephone call to a member of staff.I would therefore suggest that one forward-looking Namibian bank does what other banks worldwide have been doing for years – refrain from levying banking fees on active and healthy accounts, regardless of their size.The punitive stranglehold that the monopolistic national banking institutions currently employ to extract unnecessary fees from prudent investors would be broken for ever if just one of them had the foresight to join the 21st century global banking community and introduce a true element of competition as a consequence.I’m also guessing that any such bank would reap the benefits, as represented by happy new investors, to a far greater degree than will be the case with the ‘new’ banking product currently being advertised.Zero banking fees on my account – now that’s one service I’d happily queue through a few lunchtimes to sign up for….M A Kelly Via e-mailPerhaps such an investigation would have shown that Namibians are very well aware that the colossal service charges levied by banks in this country are a global anomaly.Very few other nations’ banks charge an account holder any fees, provided that their account remains in credit.For Namibians with smaller amounts of money at their disposal, these peculiarly Southern African fees will always represent a significant – even prohibitive – monthly expense, although they are levied at a reduced rate.Should anyone have the time to meet formally with a Namibian banking official they will discover that this person explains, with a completely straight face, that the bank fees are necessary to pay for infrastructure, wages and security.Presumably these administrators are somehow unaware that banks in other countries also have vaults, staff, ATMs, computers and telephones, but that the solvent customer is not expected to pay for these through a monthly set of charges that far outweigh any interest they may be earning.Perhaps they are similarly unaware that foreign banks offer a far better service than what is available from Namibian banking institutions which, for all their expensive technology, expect you to go in personally and queue throughout your lunch break in order to amend a stop order (for example) which was incorrectly processed by bank staff in the first place.All of this makes me question where my excessive banking fees (levied on an account which has, over many years, never been overdrawn) are being spent, since it is manifestly evident that banking administrators here are not being kept up to speed on the global banking environment, and specifically the principle that people who strive to keep their accounts ‘in the black’ should not then suffer financial penalties.Banking in Namibia is ripe for a revolution.One way to achieve this would be for all of us to withdraw all our funds immediately and then sit back and see how long the banks remain in business (if it is true, as they claim, that it is our fees that maintain their infrastructure, rather than simply the interest they charge on bonds and other loans).Unfortunately, I doubt there are enough lunch breaks in this millennium for us to implement this strategy since it has always proven impossible to actively manage one’s account here by such innovative methods as sending a fax or making a personal telephone call to a member of staff.I would therefore suggest that one forward-looking Namibian bank does what other banks worldwide have been doing for years – refrain from levying banking fees on active and healthy accounts, regardless of their size.The punitive stranglehold that the monopolistic national banking institutions currently employ to extract unnecessary fees from prudent investors would be broken for ever if just one of them had the foresight to join the 21st century global banking community and introduce a true element of competition as a consequence.I’m also guessing that any such bank would reap the benefits, as represented by happy new investors, to a far greater degree than will be the case with the ‘new’ banking product currently being advertised.Zero banking fees on my account – now that’s one service I’d happily queue through a few lunchtimes to sign up for….M A Kelly Via e-mail