Between consumers and card money payment

It is no longer news that modern-day banking practice and service provision anchor on technological advancement, without which the present experience would not be.

Prior to this era, across the counter transactions in the traditional setting slowed down response-timing and speed of productivity on the part of banks, constrained the customer in terms of options, such as consumers are now with the plenty opportunities open with the Online platforms, including payments, funds transfer and retail purchases.

This singular window of opportunity changed interactive tradition, improved on lifestyle, injected sophistication in spending pattern, etc. The list of new experiences is yet inexhaustible.

Travel, leisure, social engagement, and so many other such fund-based activities have all changed so drastically the distinctions among generation of only within 50 years-long bracket is looking like a century and a half apart.

Analysts believe that when brands in the category of the now old generation commercial banks of the late 1980s/early 90s ventured into innovative service provision, the unique offering of electronic funds transfer and ‘shorter queues’ seem like a joke looking back now, just in a space of about 25years.

For these analysts, online commerce was not conceivable then; mobile banking was not in the psyche of men back then. All the beautiful plusses of modern banking happened on us all (in underdeveloped economies) like magic.

Checks show that, innovation should advance quality of life and at least reduce cost of living. Otherwise, development will not count such as applicable.

The cost of breakthrough in any direction must not over-shadow the gains such innovations bring to bear.

To this end, the questions most Consumers in this clime are asking are; what are the cost components of money payment card in comparative terms with using cheque or withdrawal slip over the counter?

Who pays for the card? Are the banks making money from the use of money card payment instead of it being a service quality optimization for consumer satisfaction?

For those using it, at the point of renewal, do the operators ask them whether they are interested to renew their card before doing that?

And if yes, were they given the opportunity to choose the brand of card they need or the cards are just forced on them? Do they know the implications of using money payment card? Do they know their rights when it comes to money payment card?

To note, the above questions, though in-exhaustive in representation of consumers’ concerns, are predicated upon the banking public’s concern about the place of ATM card in the operations of modern day banking;

the hypothetical position is that these banks have, in the guise of technological innovation, abandoned their responsibilities to their customers, and commercialised the centre-point of their operational services to the public for unfair gains.

However, a brand management consultant who spoke with Daily Times disclosed that,” the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card is basically a debit card in this market.

In developed economies, the popular card is the credit card. With the credit card, users are permitted a margin of funds in credit, within which range they can make purchases, transfer funds until such a time when they pay back the credit permitted (with some small margin of cost).

“In our case, it is a credit card, in which case, you spend what you have in your account, without recourse to any opportunity of debit. In fact in some cases, some banks will even ensure their charges on customer’s transaction are secured before permitting access to the total sum in the account.

“Hence, you get information such as ledger and available balance. This happens mostly within the last week of the ending month.

At such times, the customer is prevented from expending all of the money in the account so that on the last working day of the month, the bank will quietly take what they have calculated as cost to the customer for using his or her own money, up until the last day of the month.”

Also speaking on this issue, Gbenga Omoloja, an expert on consumers rights protection who work with consumer’ assembly, a consumers advocacy group said; “following from the statutory roles of commercial banks,

they are designed to carry out banking services to account holding customers by keeping their funds in safe keeping and enabling them express access to such deposited funds, in so far as the bank customer of account holder decides to get access to own-money, for whatever reason.

To facilitate the discharge of that responsibility, account holders are provided with instruments broadly categorised into deposit slip, withdrawal slip (for savings account) and cheque books (for current account holders).

Whereas, savings account attracts interest on deposit, current account pays cost for transaction. In essence operating savings account attracts no cost.”

All efforts made to get through to market operators as at the time of filing this report failed, as they did not respond to phone calls and questions sent to them via email.

Godwin Anyebe