I HAD a Guyanese friend in Barbados telling me of the frustrations he is having with a commercial bank in Guyana.

He regularly gets a relative in Guyana to withdraw money from his ordinary savings account. The other day he wrote an authorisation for the relative to withdraw a specific amount. The bank refused, because there wasn’t sufficient money in the account.

I could understand that, but you know why there was insufficient money? The man in Barbados hadn’t deposited (or withdrawn) money for some time, so what the bank was doing was making their little deductions every month. I understand these deductions are what the savings deposit holder has to pay to have the account at the bank. This is morally wrong. The bank, like other financial institutions, is making money from the man by investing his money (along with that of many other depositors’) in other financial places and getting money that way.

Also, what happened to the interest paid to the savings on the deposits? How could this be smaller than the bank’s deduction, if you follow what I mean?

The Ministry of Finance or Consumer Affairs should investigate these parasitical practices by the bank.

One other thing is that business places have to make sure the ink on their receipts is lasting. Some fade after a year and are useless for financial bookkeeping.