Jamaicans Urged to Use Information Published in Commercial Bank Survey

The Consumer Affairs Commission (CAC) is encouraging the public to utilise the information in the commercial bank survey, which was published on Friday, December 8.

The survey, which uncovered the rates and fees charged by the seven commercial banks operating in Jamaica as at August 2017, was done between July and September 2017.

Jamaicans can access the information at the CAC’s website, consumeraffairsjamaica.gov.jm.

Speaking at a JIS ‘Think Tank’, today (December 12), Acting Director of Research at the CAC, Racquel Brown, said consumers should review the survey information and opt for the cheaper fees when conducting business.

She pointed out that the data was collected based on rates and fees for 28 commonly used services within six product categories. These include personal, business, e-financial, commercial, MultiLink and point-of-sale services.

Miss Brown advised consumers to ask about cheaper options and concessionary rates before completing transactions with the banks.

She compared the charges by banks for using their services, noting that some banks are charging lower rates than others.

Miss Brown said that as it relates to the Automated Teller Machine (ATM), a few banks do not charge customers for utilising this service. She also noted that the charges for declined attempts at the ATM vary between banks.

She said for personal services, there are no charges for in-branch withdrawals and in-branch deposits in relation to basic savings account at some banks.

“Get yourself armed with the information, so that at the end of the festive season when you would have swiped your card and done all your shopping, you are not frightened or shocked by high rates and fees,” Miss Brown advised.
She also encouraged shoppers to include in their budget the fees charged by the banks, and for using credit and debit cards.