Banks are seen as symbols of capitalism’s success. They are international in their character and rake in huge amounts of money - usually not well earned: they take other people’s money (savings and investments), borrow it to others and earn massive rentals from that cash.

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Another form of theft, just legitimized! Now, just yesterday, Standard Chartered branch at Game City insists on charging a customer P22 for cashing in a cheque at their bank while not having an account with them arguing it is in their tariff guide.

At face value this appears to make sense. It is all hogwash though. The young man asked why he had to be charged and was told it was in the tariff guide and if he has a problem with it he must leave. He tried to raise it that he has a problem with being charged that but over and above his biggest problem is having to return a P22 sum to the company that issued the cheque as part of reconciling the money. The cheque was the company’s working capital that he will have to account for to the last penny. To help him account, he demanded that he be granted a receipt at least but was told it can’t be done and to ‘look at the tariff guide or go to your bank’ with amazing disregard for principles of humanity.

Is it not a right that a consumer be given a receipt for anything they pay for? I mean, if without a receipt how is he to prove that he was charged the P22 legitimately? Who knows if the teller will not put the P22 into her pocket if a receipt is not issued anyway? This is utmost disrespect for the customer. Not only that, both the Bank Manager and the teller were simply rude to this customer. This could be just because he was not wearing a trim business suit that suggests he is some high flying executive.

Complete naivety: in a couple of years, the same guy could Minister of Finance or trade and lobby hard for legislation that will see the power of banks significantly reduced. Thus, when bank employees implement senseless levies they should do it with a hint of setho. Not to suggest P22 is too little for someone to complain over.

In any case, they already charge the cheque book owner for transactions by cheque or withdrawals over the counter. Why then must a consumer be charged for possessing a cheque voucher for which somebody else already is being charged from issuing? It is a sense of people being robbed by banks who are running out of ideas for new retail offerings that will guarantee revenue streams. It may be legal but many things are legal yet they equate to fraud. It does not make them any less fraudulent.

The banking system needs to change. It is no wonder that when the recession hit the world they were among the most affected. The people who work within this system also need to know that a great many of them are still just ‘the girl next door’. They are nowhere near larger than life and have absolutely no right to be rude to people who make legitimate demands like asking for a receipt for a charge they are incurring. It is no wonder a great many people simply do not want to take up Standard Chartered accounts.

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