The Tribune

By LETRE SWEETING

Tribune Staff reporter

lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Movement Leader Michael Pintard said the Davis administration would get bipartisan support to regulate the commercial banking sector, so it should act more and talk less about the need for better banking services in The Bahamas.

His comment in the House of Assembly yesterday came after Fox Hill MP and Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell reiterated his concerns about how banks treat customers.

“We stand with the government if they will take action,” Mr Pintard said. “The problem is when we listen to the member for Fox Hill, what he is saying is aspirational. He desires this, but clearly the Cabinet has not made a decision yet to support what he is saying. When the Cabinet comes on board in addressing the banking issue, we will support them.”

Mr Mitchell, during the debate on the Consumer Protection Bill, noted that Bahamians do not answer telephone calls at some banking institutions. He said to speak to a top bank official, the message must be delivered from abroad to a local official.

“The complaint is, nine times out of ten, you never get the call back,” he said. “So the question is whether or not there’s going to have to be a more strenuous intervention so that consumers have a right when they are consumers of a bank to get a Bahamian voice on the phone or have the right to see a human person to get their issues resolved.”

He also highlighted the cost of banking services, calling them “out of control.”

“The worst example,” he said, “is you have a savings account. You get no interest now but every month there’s $10 or $7 taken out of the account for them keeping your money. That’s not the way it used to be. The question is whether that is a fair practice.”

In April, Mr Mitchell said his constituents are agitated by the lack of banking sector regulation. He said at the time the legislature might have to intervene.