BANKS BEWARE! Golding puts banks on alert

THE BANK of Jamaica (BOJ) will shortly be reporting to the Government on a number of bank charges which have attracted a great deal of condemnation from members of the public following the findings of a recent Consumer Affairs Commission (CAC) survey.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding told G2K members yesterday at their annual general meeting at Jamaica Labour Party headquarters, Belmont Road, that the Government would consider its next move after receiving the report from the central bank.

"The Bank of Jamaica will be reporting to us shortly on what those charges are, and we will then determine from our regulatory point of view what intervention we need to make, because some of the things I hear, I don't understand.

"I was amazed to hear that there are some banks now that charge you a fee when you deposit money in the bank."

Commenting on declared profits by a number of leading banks, Golding said he hoped those profits were not being derived from new bank charges, about which many Jamaicans were complaining.

A recent survey by the CAC showed that with the reduction of interest rates, there had been an increase in service charges on various products.

The survey revealed that in some instances, the highest recorded rate of increase within the survey period was more than 400 per cent.

The survey showed that the Bank of Nova Scotia charges $150 for the withdrawal and deposit of money, which is a 50 per cent increase over last year. At the National Commercial Bank, persons are charged $200 to withdraw money from their account. This is a 122 per cent increase in service charge from 2009.

edmond.campbell @gleanerjm.com