In almost all the countries in the world, commercial banks have served as institutions giving reasonable amount of assistance to governments, firms and individuals in matters relating to finance. Accepting deposits, granting loans and issuing out money to customers when they need to withdraw are included in many of the services commercial bsnks offer.
In my country Nigeria, there are close to 30 commercial banks operating all over the nation. These various banks contribute in one way or another to meet and satisfy the needs of customers. They also work very hard to make sure of getting potential customers.
Over the years, I've taken time to examine how there has continued to exist a constant drop of interest in the part of customers to trust commercial banks with their money. Here are some of the reasons I think were contributing factors:
Deduction or Debits for bank Charges
Several banks have made it habitual to always deduct money as charges from accounts of customers for either ATM maintenance or for other reasons. In some cases, these unexpected withdrawals are too much for customers to handle that they would complain and spend most of their time visiting banks to get things rectified.
Unprofessionalism on the part of Bankers
It had been discovered that in some commercial banks, customers face neglect from bankers. They can spend almost all day in the banks without attended to. These bankers could be either incompetent or slow. Some bankers rather spend time attending to less important things than giving customers attention. Other bankers are too quick to shout at customers or speak in tones that are obviously disrespectful and unprofessional.
Delays in Transaction or Faulty Servers
Banks in my country can complain of network for the whole day. Transfers could take days before being received. Several times, transactions made could take days without being confirmed and before one could be able to get things rectified, they'll spend countless hours visiting the banks or passing through tiring processes.
Cyber threat or theft
Due to the increase in theft from fraudsters or cyber thiefs who impersonate as bank representatives to scam people of their sweats many have decided never to operate with banks anylonger. Though on several occasions banks would warn customers to be mindful of who they share their banks details or personal informations with, and the dangers of communicating with people who claim to work in commercial banks, ignorant customers have continued to fall prey to these predators always ready to devour.
Government Polies
I remember a period of time in my country when the government decided to replace some currencies with new ones. Everyone was expected to send their old currencies to the banks before a stipulated date to be changed to the new notes to avoid facing the risk of holding on to Naira notes that could be termed useless. It was a very difficult time for everyone, people had to buy the new notes with a lot of money. Yes, you heard me right, people had to use the old naira notes to buy the new ones for ridiculous amounts. Banks on their own parts hoarded these new notes and couldn't effectively distribute it to customers. This incident affected a lot of things in the country negatively. After the whole circus was over and the old notes were still retained, many people resolved never to have anything to do with commercial banks again.
Long cues at Tellers or ATMs
Depositing money in banks could be stressful and tiring considering the number of people already present on lines waiting to either withdraw with a withdrawal slip or deposit money with the tellers. What about withdrawing with the automated teller machines(ATM) that on its own was the most stressful. People would be seen fighting and exchanging words with each other during the process because everyone wants to be first to withdraw. Sometimes, the ATM machines can go out of service or in some cases swallow people's cards, making them frustrated and confused.
The presence of the POS (Point of Sale) in almost every street or market have made it very possible and easy gir people to make transactions whether deposits or withdrawals and pay a little fee. These POS spaces could be accessed in almost every store while others build kiosks, reducing the cues in bank ATM's and people who visit the teller.
Presence of competition from other financial institutions or Fintech Companies
As the world keeps evolving and developing into a digital community, people subscribe to using other fintech financial companies to make their transactions. With just their devices they could access and open an account with these companies and transact with ease.These digital institutions have been identified to be trustworthy in terms of
-Swift transactions
-High interest rates
-Low charges during transactions
-Granting loans without high interests
and so much more.
People rather substitute commercial banks with these financial institutions. Others have determined to save their money at home and save themselves the stress of having to go through different tiring processes.
IN CONCLUSION
Commercial banks play a major role in facilitating the growth and development of businesses. Although they have failed to meet up and satisfy customers in different ways, they still remain one of the most reliable institutions to go to fir transactions and save our valuables. This is a call to all the commercial banks in the country to sit up and address all the loopholes preventing people from placing a reasonable amount of trust on them. I think addressing some of these challenges highlighted would go a long way, aiding commercial banks thrive and strengthening customer's confidence in them.
All the pictures used are my property
