Dear Editor,

I write to raise a matter which I believe should be of urgent national concern — the persistently poor and inefficient service delivery by commercial banks in Jamaica despite their extraordinary profitability and market dominance.

Recently, I visited Scotiabank’s Fairview Branch at approximately 11:22 am to complete two simple deposits as the automated teller machines (ATM) were not accepting deposits. I was issued ticket number CA33, while the monitor indicated that ticket CA18 was being served. Recognising the slow pace, I left to conduct other business and returned over an hour later, only to be informed that the branch had progressed to just ticket CA20. In other words, in excess of one hour, only two customers were served. This is not an isolated inconvenience — it is a systemic failure.

At a time when Jamaica is striving to improve productivity, efficiency, and ease of doing business, our commercial banking sector continues to operate with a level of inefficiency that would be unacceptable in any modern economy. Lost hours in banking halls translate directly into lost economic output, reduced business efficiency, and growing public frustration.

What makes this situation even more troubling is the stark contrast between poor customer service and the enormous profits being generated by these same institutions. For example, Scotia Group Jamaica Limited reported pre-tax profits of approximately $29.7 billion for fiscal year ended October 31, 2024, with net income running into multiple billions each quarter. Across the sector, Jamaican commercial banks consistently report billions of dollars in annual profits, driven in part by fees, commissions, and high transaction volumes.

Yet customers continue to endure:

• non-functional ATMs and limited alternatives

• long wait times and slow transaction processing

• inadequate staffing and poor queue management

• overreliance on digital systems that frequently fail or exclude segments of the population

In leading financial jurisdictions — including the United Kingdom, Canada, and parts of Asia — basic banking transactions are designed to be completed within minutes, supported by efficient queuing systems, redundancy in service channels, and strict service standards. Customers are treated as valued clients, not inconveniences.

The question must therefore be asked: Why are Jamaican customers expected to accept less?

The time has come for stronger regulatory intervention. The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ), as the regulator responsible for oversight of the financial system, must move beyond monitoring financial stability and place greater emphasis on service delivery standards, consumer protection, and operational accountability.

Specifically, consideration should be given to:

1) establishing minimum service standards for in-branch transactions

2) mandating uptime and reliability requirements for ATMs and digital platforms

3) requiring public reporting of service performance metrics such as wait times, system outages, and so on

4) introducing penalties or corrective actions for persistent service failures

Jamaicans are not asking for special treatment, only for fair, efficient, and reliable access to their own financial resources.

It is untenable that in 2026 a customer must spend hours to complete a basic deposit, while the institutions providing this service generate billions in profit annually.

The banking sector must do better — and the BOJ must demand it.

Dale A Davis

dadavis9@me.com