ANZ chief Mike Smith, who called for an end to bank bashing: HERE
It is not surprising that the Big Four Banks are sensitive to the current rash of bank bashing by our political leaders. The Banks may be correct that such constant and increasingly strident criticism could damage the Industry just at a time of financial uncertainties brought on by the troubles in Europe.
However, the banking industry, as a whole, needs to reflect on the reasons why specific banks, and most financial institutions, for that matter, are on the nose with the general public and have been for more than a decade. Never has an industry been held in such low regard by individual citizens.
The reasons for the lack of respect and trust are not hard to discern. Under the “protection” of economic rationalist dogma – the user pays principle and maximisation of profit at any cost – banks have engineered what used to be a “service” industry to the advantage of their shareholders at the expense of everyone else, including their own staff.
Gone are the days when the suburban or rural bank manager was a trusted and respected member of the community. Today, banks, in spite of their protestations to the contrary, provide a poor level of service and gorge themselves on inflated penalties and charges – even for depositing a cheque! Bank charges and fees – business costs, which were once considered a legitimate business expense and a tax deduction – are now foisted onto those who can least afford such usurious costs for keeping money in the bank.
Let’s hope that some day soon rational and principled behaviour will, once again, become the norm with our financial institutions. I fear that this will await a quantum change in economic thought by those in the ivory towers of academia.
