Letter of the Day | Why do banks treat people with impunity and disrespect?

THE EDITOR, Madam:

I am writing to help the public understand what is happening in the banks in Jamaica. Customers and businesspeople are at the mercy of the banks, which treat them with impunity and no respect whatsoever.

Recently, I had some difficulty making timely payments to my credit cards. I worked with some persons in the bank to completely pay off all the balances on the credit cards. During this time, the bank would place holds on my accounts which, although I disagreed with them, I understood the reason for.

However, when the accounts were completely paid off, the bank continued to place these arbitrary holds on my accounts and to send erroneous information to the credit bureaus, thereby damaging my creditworthiness.

I tried to close the affected accounts, only to be told by the teller that this could not be done because the credit cards had money outstanding. I explained that the credit card debt was completely liquidated some time ago. That made no difference.

I wrote to the manager,but the letter was returned with a message that I should go to the teller. It made no difference that I had already gone to the teller. The matter therefore remains unresolved.

Gone are the days when customers could complain or discuss a matter with a manager. I suspect that a few privileged persons are still able to do this.

Across the world, powerless people are being abused and, in many places, are even killed without any accountability on the part of the killers. I hope this never happens in Jamaica. We must all guard against it.

Remember, the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. Do something!

ARCHIBALD MCDONALD