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Citizens need rescue from ravenous banks

02 Jun 2016 at 13:22hrs | Views
It is inundating to note that banks are contributing in the continuity of the cash crisis by devious means as depositors are boldly reluctant to deposit cash owing to their imposition of exorbitant bank charges.  

The current cash shortage is making banks ravenous as they are charging an average of $2 - $10 per transaction per day. Some banks are tagging daily withdrawal to as little as $50 per day. Imaginatively, assuming that someone earns $ 600, it means one will visit the bank 12 times, and therefore, is expected to pay $24 - $120 for that particular month depending on whether they get their money over the counter in bank, Automatic Teller Machine, Transfer through ZIPIT or Point of sale. This loss of revenue by the ordinary citizens translates to roughly nearly 20% of their earnings going towards bank charges. Visualise this scenario for someone who is earning far below the poverty datum line, like a $250 salary, losing that much every month.

Basing on this reality obtaining on the ground, surely is there any incentive which can motivate a sane citizen to walk into a bank to make a deposit? Certainly not! The banking sector is creating an unfriendly business environment in the country. This is practically detrimental to the normal functioning of our ailing economic situation, because all cash withdrawn from the bank will remain circulating on the informal sector where the banking systems have no control.

The prudent thing to do now is for banks to realign their charges immediately, and then devise inclusive ways of doing business which are appealing to all stakeholders to promote flourishment of formal business deals. However, under normal circumstances, informal and formal business should co-exist complimenting each other. In the meantime, the informal is gaining prominence due to such distortions which impact negatively on business confidence.

The most frustrating aspect is that, business persons and workforces are spending more than 5 hours standing in bank queues awaiting the possible delivery of cash to the bank hoping to get at least a small amount which in most cases is insufficient to cater for their daily needs. This is one way in which the economy is paralysed as the workers are kept away from the workplace where they are expected to work hard to build the economy. Surely, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will be reduced significantly due to such discrepancies which are taking toll on our economy while we watch.

The central bank is under mandatory obligation to re-configure standard operational systems in the banking sector to re-boot public confidence in this unjust system which is ripping them of their hard earned cash. If this is allowed to persist, we are certainly headed for doom. Therefore, it is wise to nip the problem in the bud.

Most people have turned to use of mobile money transfers like, Ecocash, Telecash, One wallet and Netty cash. These are equally costly for each transaction. The ripple effect is that, the buying power for every citizen is hiked resentfully by this state of affairs. This is time for us all to seriously consider moral suasion amongst all relevant stakeholders to reinforce rational contribution to our needs and expectations as a society which is poised to prosper.

Source - Sparkleford Masiyambiri
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