An international debit card user goes to the issuing bank to endorse the card on his passport. Due to a crisis in the US dollar in the country's foreign exchange market, the user needs to endorse the card every six months, as the issuing bank infomed earlier. Now, the bank officials ask him to show his previous passport before putting the endorsement on his current passport. The validity of the last passport expired more than a year ago. The new passport has by now become a year's old. Moreover, the bank had made an endorsement on the current passport more than six months ago.
Nevertheless, the bank officials refused to endorse on the plea that there is a strict regulation in this regard and they have to check the previous passport. The client fails to comprehend the reason behind the necessity of checking a date-expired passport. He also argues that the duration of endorsement done on the previous passport ended. He also sought to know whether the bank officials do not trust their own official endorsement made six months ago on the current passport. After wasting his valuable time without any result, the client left the bank and returned with the previous passport to get the endorsement.
Another case in point. Every month, a woman has to deposit the house rent into the bank account of her house owner. Due to her office and family work, she sometimes sends one of her office peons to deposit the money along with the filled-up deposit sleep as well as a copy of her national identity card. Suddenly, the teller in the bank branch refused to deposit the money. He insisted the actual depositor has to come to the bank. When asked about the reason, the reply was that the name of the bearer of the money was not written on the deposit slip, although the full details of the actual depositor had been given along with a copy of her NID. However, an intervention from a senior official helped the bearer deposit the money later.
These two cases are two small examples of overregulation in the country's financial sector, where small clients and consumers suffer. Instead of keeping things easy, over-restrictive measures in the name of compliance compel clients to pay additional costs for no reason.
For instance, customers in different state-owned banks are sometimes asked to show the original NIDs besides the photocopies, although the banks are now able to verify NIDs through the online system. There is no need to verify NID when someone deposits money into another's bank account. Attaching a copy of the NID with the deposit slip is enough. Similarly, when one goes to the bank with a bearer cash cheque, one is also asked to show the original NID, although it is unnecessary. In the name of over-cautiousness, the officials and staff of the banks make the situation troublesome for customers.
This is not to argue that any bank or financial institution has to relax necessary rules and regulations. What is critical is smooth and flexible application of banking regulations and instructions so that customers do not face hassles or suffer unnecessary delay in receiving service. The central bank needs to look into these matters and issue clear instructions so that neither banks nor customers have to go through time-consuming illogical process.
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