Unsolicited Contribution to Code of Conduct for Jamaican Banking Sector

SECTION Subject
Suggestion
Rationale
FINE FOR
BREACH
SUGGESTED FINES PAYABLE TO CONSUMERS
Part III, Code 2, 2.3
Change to Fees &
Charges
At what point(s) in the process of engagement should
a customer benefit from such reductions? This is a
matter which should be separately addressed. For
instance, if a loan application is made when the
applicable rate of interest is 20% and the rate is
reduced to 15% before the loan is paid out, should the
client automatically get the lower rate? If not, should
the institutions have a process for a review of the rate
applied if there is a rate change before a loan is paid
out?
1. There is administrative tardiness across many banks, there is
also healthy competition in the market which leads to fairly
frequent downward review of interest rates. Where debt
applications are held beyond a reasonable time and cross over
into a period of reduced rate, the consumer should benefit-
automatically.
YES
Part III, Code 3, 3.2 Maintenance of Records
Currently the systems used by the two major
commercial banks display the details of the last
statement until the next statement date i.e. any
payments made are not used to update the statement
details in real time on the users online interface. While
this information would be available in branch, via
telebanking and even by basic calculation, shouldn't all
resources made available by the bank for confimation
of standing be updated in real time or at least fair
time?
1. If a customer needs evidence of debt or information from their
credit card for any other purpose and has made a payment
between statements, the information available via their online
'statement' would not be correct.
NO
Procedures for Handling
Complaints
Acknowledgement of receipt of complaint can be done
within a shorter time given the technology that exists.
If receiived by text, email, social media or other
electronic means, automatic responders can be set;
that would be almost immediate. If complaints are
received in writing, a 3 day turnaround time is fair.
1. It is reported that in 2012 between the two leading
commercial banks, fees and commissions was over J$12bil .
2. Where high service fees exist, there must be service, great
service.
YES
An amount equivalent to five (5) times the
prevailing and highest late charge fee applied by
the institution to personal accounts and a similar
computation for complaints from business clients.
Unsolicited Comments Concerning the Bank of Jamaica's Proposed Code of Conduct for the
Banking Sector
The Bank of Jamaica released for comment in March 2015 a set of proposed provisions to form a code of conduct for the banking sector available here http://www.boj.org.jm/uploads/news/bsa_consultation_paper_-
_code_of_conduct_31_march_2015.pdf . Per the Banking Services Act (2014) (not yet in effect as at May 14, 2015) Section 132 (5)"The power conferred on the Supervisor by subsection (4) shall be exercised after consultation with
organizations recognized by the Supervisor as representing deposit taking institutions and with respect to subsection (4)(b) the Consumer Affairs Commission and such other persons who, in the opinion of the Supervisor, are relevant stake
holders. " . The thoughts below are simply those of a private citizen who is hopeful that matters of this nature were raised by the groups representing consumers during the consultations.
1/4
Comments on BoJ's Proposed Code of Conduct for Banks Author: C.E.Clarke , Kingston, Jamaica
for Help Mi Consulting Contact: helpmi876@gmail.com

Procedures for Handling
Complaints
The BoJ should set a minimum standard for the initial
response. The operations of banks for the most part is
automated. Investigating complaints does not have to
be 30 day process. Perhaps the BoJ can assist by
identifying the more common types of complaints and
providing acceptable response times for each and fines
for breaches.
1. It cannot be left to the institutons to determine response
times. There are some complaints that can literally put the life of
a complainant on hold e.g. not having access to accounts.
YES
An amount equivalent to ten (10) times the
prevailing and highest late charge fee applied by
the institution to personal accounts and a similar
computation for complaints from business clients.
Part III, Code 6 Advertisements
The BoJ should further mandate the institutions to
practice proper marketing management, specifically to
ensure posters, online banners and all other materials
relating to old promotions, which are still within their
control, are removed once they become obsolete.
1. Customers can be mislead by obsolete promotional material
made available by the institutions, irrespective of the fact that a
'deadline' or 'end date' may exist in fine print. The institutions
should be forced to manage their marketing tools and make only
current information available to clients and prospective clients.
YES
An amount which covers all reasonable expenses
incurred by the customer in trying to conduct
business on the basis of the obsolete information,
where the customer is able to show that the
information was made available by the institution
at a date subsequent to the 'end date' OR a formal
letter of apology to the customer with the
guarantee that the misleading material has been
removed.
Part III, Code 6
New- Marketing &
Management
The BoJ should include a provision for DTIs to ensure
correct and complete contact details are maintained at
all points of customer contact- online directory,
company website etc
1. Some companies have obsolete contact details including
telephone and fax numbers available on their website. This can
cause unnecessary delays if a customer should for instance be
asked to send a fax and use the information from the website.
2. If no other sector can afford proper website and public image
maintenance, the banking sector can.
YES
An amount which covers all reasonable expenses
incurred by the customer in trying to conduct
business on the basis of the obsolete information,
where the customer is able to show that the
information was made available by the institution
at a date subsequent to the 'end date' OR a formal
letter of apology to the customer with the
guarantee that the misleading material has been
removed.
NEW
Acceptance of
Documents /
Confirmation of
Engagement
Where a A DTI accepts documents from a customer for
the purpose of conducting business but where such
business will not or cannot be concluded within the
same day, the customer must be issued with receipt
confirming the business started and the documents
collected. The same should apply where documents
are not involved but where the DTI has accepted the
interest of a person in conducting business with them
e.g. where no submission of documents is required but
where a person has signed documents to start a
process.
1. The absence of a receipt leaves room for the institutions to
delay applications on the false basis of documents not being
submitted
2. Where the business is not successful and documents are to be
returned to the client, lost items could be costly for the client to
replace e.g. titles, photographs etc. 3.
It is only fair for a person to have evidence of business started.
Consider someone who is working with an institution to
consolidate a loan, that person has nothing to use as evidence to
the creditors involved that a process is underway.
YES
Where documents are lost, an amount equivalent
to five (5) times the replacement cost 2. failure to
provide receipt, an amount equivalent to five (5)
times the highest late fee charged on personal
account where individuals are involved and the
five (5) times the highest rate charged as late fee
on business accounts where the breach is related
to a business account.
2/4

NEW
Completion of
Applications
Where an institution uses a system where the officer
asks questions of the customer and completes the
application electronically, such applications should be
printed or made available electronically for the
applicant to review.
Where customers are not involved in the preparation of their
own application documents and an officer on their own account
chooses to carry out an unlawful or unethical offence concerning
information on the person's application, the customer could
unnecessarily become party to an investigation or may suffer
undue consequences along the way e.g. comparable information
varying on a credit report
YES
An amount which reasonably compensates for any
embarrassment, lost opportunity, emotional
distress or other reasonable costs to be
determined by arbitration managed by the
Supervisor
NEW
Service Turnaround
Time
Following on the above suggestion for the use of a
document to confirm engagement, said document
should also state the turnaround time for the specific
service e.g. for a loan secured by car -2 weeks,
unsecured -1 week, secured by mortgage-4 weeks etc.
While banks may have their internal deadlines, these are not
communicated to the consumers in any binding way which
leaves room for delays and uncertainty. Just about every
transaction with a bank will include the accrual of or the earning
of interest, both are important to the financial affairs of a
consumer so every effort should be made to keep service
delivery within a reasonable and known period.
YES
1. Where timelines are not met for services where
a processing or service fee has been applied, said
fees are to be waived or in the case of a credit
application, paid to the principal of the loan
balance once the loan is finalized.
2. Where the breach causes a loss of potential
interest the customer/ customer's account is to be
compensated in the amount of the loss.
3. Where the delay causes significant and negative
changes in the financial standing of the affected
person, compensation is to be determined by
arbitration.
NEW
Service Turnaround
Time
Following on the above suggestion for the use of a
document to confirm engagement, said document
should also state the turnaround time for the specific
service e.g. for a loan secured by car -2 weeks,
unsecured -1 week, secured by mortgage-4 weeks etc.
While banks may have their internal deadlines, these are not
communicated to the consumers in any binding way which
leaves room for delays and uncertainty. Just about every
transaction with a bank will include the accrual of or the earning
of interest, both are important to the financial affairs of a
consumer so every effort should be made to keep service
delivery within a reasonable and known period.
YES
1. Where timelines are not met for services where
a processing or service fee has been applied, said
fees are to be waived or in the case of a credit
application, paid to the principal of the loan
balance once the loan is finalized.
2. Where the breach causes a loss of potential
interest the customer/ customer's account is to be
compensated in the amount of the loss.
3. Where the delay causes significant and negative
changes in the financial standing of the affected
person, compensation is to be determined by
arbitration.
3/4

NEW New- Staffing
DTIs and in particular their loan departments are to be
adequately staffed to match the anticipated response
of their marketing efforts and competitive rates. 1. the
ratio of staff could be plugged to the value of each
branch's loan portfolio OR 2. by looking at the average
exhaust time for loan matters across all DTIs and
determining a 'fair' exhaust time, taking an average
number of weekly traffic , then ensuring there is
adequate staff to service the expected traffic at a
determined minimum exhaust/processing time and an
'acceptable' waiting period. 3. Establish an
appointment system
A trip to the bank/other financial institution for the average
consumer is often comparable to a trip to a public health center
or hospital; the wait is long, only you may not be as miserable as
the temperature is usually nicely regulated and there is usually at
least one person to acknowledge your wait time "Yuh nuh get tru
yet?" or 'someone will soon be with you' at least four times in an
hour and a half. It seems the trend is to have one or two officers
in a loan department but with a market that seems to be
surviving only on loan products, that is not satisfactory. Given
the maturity of the financial sector, processes must become
more efficient, not just to ensure higher profits but to make the
experiences more pleasant and practical for consumers whose
good and bad decisions help DTIs thrive.
YES
1. Penalties as laid down in the relavent Act
2. Compensation for the consumer where the
determined minimum exhaust/processing time
and or waiting time goes beyond an
'unreasonable' overage
Author: C.E.Clarke for Help Mi Consulting , May 15, 2015
Contact: helpmiconsulting@gmail.com
4/4

Unsolicited Contribution to Code of Conduct for Jamaican Banking Sector

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