Dennie Quill, Contributor

Readers have urged me to keep the issue of unfair banking practices on the front burner. In reaction to my recent column which alluded to the usurious rates charged by banks and unreasonable demands for references, some readers have graciously supplied grist to the mill.

Examples of banks foolishly demanding references from long-standing customers provided the bulk of the complaints. Overall, it was clear that a significant number of customers are very unhappy with their banks as they watch profits soar and service decline.

The first reader said she had worked with a well-established bank for 30 years, her father died. After she had retired and as a director of his company she sought to sign on his business account.

Sure enough, she was asked for references. Her argument is that having left the bank in a senior position after three decades of impeccable service, would not members of the bank's administration be in a good position to attest to her character. But no, the bank needed references from outside notables. In the end, she sought and received references from persons who knew her father well, but barely knew her.

Model customer mistreated

Another reader writing from overseas said he has been a 25-year veteran of one of the island's banks. He had never had an overdraft, maintained healthy balances and kept his account active. In other words, he was a model customer. One day, he went to the bank and expressed an interest in opening an account with their brokerage firm. He was taken aback when told he would require references from a lawyer, a minister of religion, and a justice of the peace. He raised strenuous objections to this requirement citing the fact that the funds to open his new account had been sitting in their bank for many years. He asked the question: Who should be able to provide a more authentic recommendation, the bank or an unknown notable? To his credit, he took his case to the bank's compliance department with the result that he was allowed to open his account without any reference.

In other case, a Jamaican who has lived in the United States for more than 20 years recounted the hurdles placed in his path when he tried to open an account here. This gentleman visits the island at least twice a year and, for the last 15 years, he has been trying to open a bank account. He writes: "After producing my Jamaican passport, US passport, home address in Pennsylvania, my current bank account with the Bank of New York, that I worked for then, and my home address in St Catherine, I still was asked to find a JP for a recommendation. That is how difficult it is to open a bank account in Jamaica and the Proceeds of Crime Act was not even in existence then."

Clearing of cheques a nightmare

This reader also raised the issue of bank policy regarding the clearing of cheques. He stated that in 2006, he gave a relative a cheque on a Thursday. When the relative went to the bank he was told that the money would be cleared in about four weeks. The reader said when he checked with his bank in the US, his account was debited the following Tuesday. So did it take three weeks after leaving his account to get to the bank in Jamaica? His next question is this: "What happened to the interest earned on the money the bank had in its possession for over three weeks? In another incident, he said it took over a month for a payee to get a manager's cheque cleared.

My anecdotal experience had already convinced me that banks are giving their customers a raw deal, It is now left for the powers that be to recognise that and do something about it. In Ireland, the Competition Commission has just completed a two-year investigation into whether bank customers were getting a fair deal. The report is now out with a slew of recommendations. So which agency in Jamaica is on the side of the consumer?