Banks slammed for poor customer service

Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) has taken a swipe at local commercial banks saying “very few banks are customer-oriented.”

In view of poor customer services by some banks, the central bank has since asked ‘lenient customers’ to demand better services from banks.

“I still go to banking halls to see how banks are conducting themselves and I can tell you that very few banks are customer oriented. It is only that customers are lenient, there should have been demonstrations against certain banks,” said RBM deputy governor (economics service) Naomi Ngwira on Friday.

She said this when she addressed representatives of commercial banks led by the Bankers Association of Malawi (BAM) who formed part of the stakeholders sensitisation workshop on the implementation of the cheque value limit at Nkopola in Mangochi.

Malawi’s main banks include National Bank of Malawi (NBM), Standard Bank of Malawi, NBS Bank, FMB, Nedbank, Indebank, Malawi Savings Bank (MSB), Opportunity Bank, FDH Bank, Ecobank and CDH Investment Bank.

Recently, there has been a general outcry against banking services in the country such as endless queues in and outside banking halls, unrelenting network glitches, regular out-of-service auto teller machines delays by banks to clear cheques, and bank tellers’ attitudes towards customers, among others.

“Each bank needs to make sure that it has latest ICT technologies to enhance better service delivery. But we are also encouraging customers to make demands for better services,” added Ngwira.

She also encouraged individual banks to train staff to be customer centric.

BAM executive director Lyness Nkungula, reacting to the concerns by RBM,  said poor customer service delivery is an area of concern; but BAM is doing its best to correct the situation.

Said Nkungula: “As Bankers Association,  we have tried to come up with so many trainings on customer service, but I should also make it clear here that sometimes it is the individual attitudes of tellers and bank employees who need to change their attitudes towards customers because without customers, we don’t have banks in Malawi.”

She also urged customers to report any bad attitudes by tellers to bank superiors which, she said, would help in dealing with such individually.