The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

THE Consumer Protection Commission has launched its commercial banking survey, geared toward determining the level comfort and safety Bahamians feel while interacting with their respective banks, with final results planned as the basis for new policy recommendations to the government.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the unit’s second reconnaissance outing in as many weeks, CPC Research Officer Lavade Darling said the unit through its independent research has identified a wealth of issues experienced by consumers and wanted to avoid arbitrarily reporting issues being experienced.

To this end, Mr Darling said his office opted to carry out a survey exercise in which consumers responded to questions about their level of satisfaction while interacting with their bank of choice.

Mr Darling explained that while many Bahamians have “unaired grievances” with services offered by various banks, many of these issues go “unheard or unaddressed because many clients are unaware of their rights when doing business with commercial banks.”

According to Mr Darling, there are dozens of instances where customers leave their banks perplexed by their recent experience. He noted that persons in these kind of instances ought to know that some level of recourse is available.

Handing out copies of the CPC 20-question survey to shoppers going in and out of Solomon’s Fresh Market in the Harbour Bay Shopping Plaza, Mr Darling said his unit has worked for an extended period to detail issues that exist within the industry and is now taking steps to put those results to use.

While asserting that most of the cases in question could only be rectified through legislation, his unit wants to supply commercial facilities with their data in hopes that it encourages changes in operations.

Mr Darling said: “One of the greatest concerns that’s been expressed so far is about the fees banks introduced recently as it relates to cheque cashing. This is high on people’s minds and they feel that it is not fair and they feel like it is exorbitant. For example, it is illegal for banks to charge a fee on the cashing of a government issued cheque in Canada. Many of our banks come from Canada so they know of this process well.

“That is the purpose for us being here today to find out how Bahamians really feel about the way they are viewed and treated by their banks. In addition to fees, we want to know how consumers feel about complaints and how they are being handled by these banks.”

He continued: “Before we make any recommendation in a vacuum, we wanted to be informed by what Bahamian consumers actually feel. At the end of the day what we intend or hope to be able to do is make some policy recommendations to the government of the Bahamas, through our Minister (Shane Gibson). This is one of the tasks we are responsible for, we promote awareness of the rights of consumers.”

According to officials, the unit hopes to survey at least 1,000 Bahamians throughout the month of November.

The unit’s banking survey was developed by the CPC and reviewed by the Central Bank of the Bahamas before being presented publicly.

The unit’s four-page survey analyses the types of accounts customers hold; time and occurrences of issues; the length of time before resolution and the subsequent satisfaction level with resolution.

The CPC was created through the Consumer Protection Act 2006.

The commission is tasked by the government with protecting Bahamian consumers from abuse in the marketplace.