The Governor
State Bank of Pakistan
Karachi.
The Banking Mohtasib
Karachi.
Sub : The menace of the institution of Banking
Today it is a request; tomorrow it will be a demand and an outrage day after.
So kindly read it carefully.
In order that the sacred aim of equitable distribution of wealth is made a movement, to start with the banks and other financial institutions must be transformed into investments and funds management institutions so that the rich may have access to the money of the depositors only as equity / share money and not as loans, except if short term ranging between 30 to 90 days for meeting emergencies / contingencies or of personal nature to only individuals, in order to let the whole humanity enjoy the fruits of progress, productivity and prosperity while a general consensus is promoted for the well being of our industrial and commercial entities.
All Banks and other financial institutions must , by law , be owned and managed by depositors and other investors allowing them to own a maximum of 1% shares individually so that all financial hegemony ,exploitation and undue profiteering comes to an end and any and all benefits are eventually returned to the actual source of funds i.e. the depositors and public at large with every one and any one to be eligible to buy / own shares.
Profit should be a means to sustainability and growth; it must never be allowed to become the goal and the sole driving force. the goal should be to serve with an element of commercial viability so as to continually generate reasonable earnings.
Tried and tested successful professionals may be given the task of management supervised by the well known audit firms and a board of directors consisting of large deposit holders.
Credit card scam
Enough is enough............how come new card bills are carrying a 5 % excise duty on card charges.
You need to look into abnormally high and cruelly designed schedule of charges on the credit cards in the interest of the public at large. Looks like all one sided favouring the Banks , it is like biting the hands those feed.
The banks are deducting between 2.5-3.0 % from vendors though they allow them no benefit for late reimbursements. Some vendors pass that burden on to the consumers such as travel agencies etc.
The banks are debiting card holders:
Aprox 36 % p.a. on cash withdrawals plus one time withdrawal charges of 2 to 3% or more with a minimum of rs.300 to 600.
2.33—3.25 % p.m. on cards outstanding plus late payment charges if not settled on time thereby punishing the already troubled card holders twice for not being able to afford full and timely payment.
Yet they must also burden the card holder with over limit charges of 1,000 or so.
On top of that Rs. 300-600 for late payment if cheques delivered to their drop boxes prior to due dates of payments but not encashed by banks due to holidays.
The most intriguing part is the charge of Rs.1, 000 if you go over the limit where you are not the solicitor.
You do not know that you have gone over limit plus you pay the usual markup on top of that.
How can a multiple family card holders keep track of the credit limits?
Whereas the Banks or the vendors fail to inform the card holders when they are going over the limit without any regard to the fact that supplementary cards used by family members do not allow the card holders with up-to-date knowledge about the card usage all the time.
Rs 500 if the cheque needs to be represented just for simple mistakes in writing cheques or due to delay in clearing of affects/ cheques deposited by the card holders in their bank accounts. Besides Rs. 2,000-4,000 annual fee.
It is a case of gross social injustice and beyond. When cash is paid in settlement of card dues, Banks charge cash processing fee of Rs. 200 to 300 and when paid by cheques the rascals take 3—4 days to give credit.
One very seriously unfair practice which needs to be severely reprimanded is the personal loan issue of these poor credit card holders where these banks charge mark-up on principal amount without any adjustment of installments collected month after month whereby the loan outstanding is diminished but not taken into account for the purpose of mark-up calculation and on top of that customers are not paid full loan amount but only the amount after deducting first month installment and when the banks say it is 1.5% pm actually it is over 30 % annually. Yet these swindlers dare to charge another 5 to 10 % surcharges if such loans are settled fully prior to their full term.
Banking institution should be rid of these unethical managements who do not understand their responsibility towards customers.
Is it not a financial terrorism??? Allowing and encouraging the foreign financial institutions to plunder this economically exploited nation thru bad banking regulations / legislation.
One thing which is even more serious. that the cards are being processed and issued through tele marketing, low calibre people (commission based agents) with minimum of paper work and without scrutiny about the credit worthiness and ability of the individuals for settlement of the dues, giving way to all sorts of irregularities.
The customer services people at these Banks only have stereo type answers and no solutions when contacted.
Banking institution is also Allah's blessing being socially important in it's basic nature but like most other areas of welfare have been corrupted by those who were expected to rather improve upon, this institution of vital importance has also been hijacked by lesser vision, selfish and greedy few.
May I take this opportunity to remind you about our national priorities to use the funds available on infrastructure and industrial development, promotion of educational facilities, logistic support, housing, environment , creation of work opportunities for the jobless and good governance rather than spending on consumer electronics, households and whatever……………!
I have set the ball rolling…….but there are those ……who ought to act.
Sincerely,
Shuja R. Khan
163, Kh. Hafiz, Phase-VI , DHA , Karachi - 75500 ,Tel 0300 8271630
Date: Wed, 19 Oct 2011 17:41:28 +0500
Subject: Media Tribe> PR-- Women entrepreneurs demand reduction in banking spread
From: samina.faazil@gmail.com
To: Media-Tribe@googlegroups.com
Rationalise banking spread to revive economy: Samina Fazil
Islamabad: [October 19]
Women entrepreneurs on Wednesday called upon the authorities to rationalise the banking spread to revive ailing economy of the country.
Banking spread, which is 100 per cent above the normal level, is good for banks only while it is disastrous for economy, said Samina Fazil, founder President Islamabad Women Chambers of Commerce and Industry (IWCCI).
Sole aim of the business community has been confined to contribute to the profits of banks as regulatory bodies seems uninterested in ensuring best banking practices, she said while talking to Dr. Murtaza Mughal, President of the Pakistan Economy Watch.
Samina Fazil said that lack of investment opportunities, frequent mergers, uncompetitive environment, privatization, collusion, and apathy of State Bank of Pakistan has given additional strength to the banking companies that are offering negative rate of return since long.
Banks, supposed to mobilise savings and finance economic activities, are merely focused on maximising profits in absence of proper accountability, she added.
Situation has transformed banking into most profitable sector of the country; she said adding that such a massive spread is hurting women who are frequently ignored by the banking companies on one pretext or other.
Borrowers, depositors and the whole country is paying price for the excessive desires of uncontrolled banking sector, Alia Akram, President IWCCI noted.
State Bank of Pakistan shouldn't forget its responsibility to keep banking system efficient and competitive and save depositors and borrowers from exploitation, the business leader said.
Banking system is contributing towards declined saving rate; unjust distribution of wealth, widespread poverty and controversial monetary policies, said Vice President IWCCI Naima Ansari.
Disrespecting sources of profit is against the ethics of any business she said adding that intermediary costs (difference between the cost of borrowing and return on lending) as are illogical and oppressive in Pakistan's imperfect market, they said.
At the occasion Dr. Murtaza Mughal said that improving the policies of financial sector should be taken as a challenge. He said that high-cost capital can never encourage investment or support economic activity.
Low and stable inflation encourages investment and promotes while high inflation can retard GDP growth if it stays above the 5 per cent threshold, said Dr. Mughal.
Authorities should engineer soft lending to revive economy, he demanded. Stubborn inflation should not be allowed to change people's perception about effectiveness of monetary policy therefore there is a need to fine-tune guiding principles.
--
Samina Fazil,
Founder President,
Islamabad Women's CCI
Mobile: 0323-5343199
Land-line: 051-2252256
--
Samina Fazil,President,
Islamabad Women's CCI
Mobile: 0323-5343199
Land-line: 051-2252256
--
Samina Fazil,President,
Islamabad Women's CCI
Mobile: 0323-5343199
Land-line: 051-2252256
--
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