Don’t bank on banks for fair charges

THE EDITOR: On Thursday February 10, 2005 at 1 pm I tried to deposit a cheque from the Unit Trust Corporation into my Visa credit card account. I was rudely told by the male teller that I would have to pay $25 to deposit the said cheque. I tried to argue loudly with the discourteous teller that what he was doing was wrong, unfair and unjust to simply charge a customer for depositing a cheque. He countered that what he was doing was the bank’s policy and to leave the line that I was in for half an hour and see the supervisor. The supervisor approached and took me away from the line to deal with the matter.

I was told that what the teller had said was indeed the bank’s policy but she would waive the fee for just this time. I left the bank a short while later feeling hurt, dejected and as if an attempted robbery had just taken place. I then asked myself where is justice in this land of ours or whether there was any at all. How can banks simply institute unfair charges or fees to an unsuspecting public? Where is the supervisor of banks to monitor these financial institutions? Whose money are the banks using to make their hundreds of millions of dollars while so many of our citizens live below the poverty line? Something must be done morally and justly to address the unequal distribution of wealth.

VINCENT BOOKER
Talparo