Published by the government of Zimbabwe
7 October 2008
editorial
Harare — SOME banks have for some time been subjecting customers to unfair treatment, levying unjustified and to a very large extent, extortionate service charges and fees.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor, Dr Gideon Gono, has done the right thing by taking issue with excessive charges by banks, pointing out clearly that the charges are being abused as a revenue earner.
Indeed, it has been quite frustrating for the banking public who lately had found themselves faced with bank charges quite higher than an individual's salary for a product such as a cheque book.
In fact, questions had arisen where the bank charges and fees turned out to be so high that they do not reflect the true cost to the bank.
And it is for this reason that the RBZ Governor had to quickly intervene and come up with a rationalised system of bank service charges for all banks in the country.
When a person opens a bank account they are entering into a contract. But there has been an unusual situation where some banks have been breaching this client contract and the central bank as the regulator has been forced to intervene and level the playing field.
We therefore believe that the new bank charges set by the governor are quite reasonable as in some instances, they actually fall significantly above what some banks have been charging.
In fact, banks should thank Dr Gono for slapping higher punitive charges on dishonoured cheques to curb what he termed "irresponsible behaviour bent on undermining the integrity of the payment and settlement system".
Low charges on dishonoured cheques will only encourage people to think of reckless issuance of cheques as some form of facility.
While charges on unpaid cheques or refer to drawer have actually been higher at some banks, the governor is right in acknowledging the
need to steepen the charges as a deterrent measure.
The message is loud and clear: People need to take personal responsibility and not spend money that they do not have.
It is understandable that banks do business on their clients' deposits, and are now having to live off the fees and charges as the old days of borrowing money from depositors and lending it on are long gone because of the credit crunch situation.
But some banks have been taking unjustified charges from depositors in the name of operational charges. Even some clients are forced to give fees if they wish to close an account.
We should also point out that it is a logical idea in a free market economy that banks should charge fees but within the regime outlined by the central bank.
This explains why the central bank data shows new charges for the same services vary in different banks.
We also believe that under fair circumstances, customers should have a right to claim for refunds on unfair charges and the banks have an obligation to repay.
This is because banking is not about luring people into opening accounts, only to turn and then hammer them with an unclear and unfair charging system.
We encourage all banks to cultivate the values of banking, which is about building mutual trust and confidence with clients.
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Typical Herald rubbish. Gono loves to blame others for the mess he has created.