Better to keep your money at home
‘Banks spend huge sums on technology and keep on advertising the virtues of going high tech to woo customers. However in certain areas the services expected have deteriorated. Some years back we were able to speak to relationship managers on their direct lines. Now we have to go through telephone answering systems pressing several buttons before we access an officer. While the phone bills keep on rising you had it if the call gets disconnected. After going through the same procedure there is no guarantee that you will be connected to the same officer if not you will have explain everything again.
Before the advent of technology we were able to collect cheque books over the counter. Now some banks request you to come after two days. Before high-tech cheque clearing was introduced there was an Inner Colombo clearing where cheques deposited before 10 am were cleared on the same day. It is no more. I heard that a bank has done away with sending credit advices on foreign remittances to customers not having an email address. All this is happening while bank charges keep on increasing. Cheque return commission for lack of funds which was Rs. 500 a few years back is now Rs. 2500. The worst is yet to come. Recently a local bank requested one of its reputed customers to pay US$430,000 as bank charges to allow her to examine her accounts on a court order and also has indicated that it may take four years to do so. By doing so this bank has let down the entire banking sector. All in all it looks that it would be better to keep your money at home.
A.G. Weerasinghe
Colombo