Dear Editor,

I read Garfield Higgins’ article ‘The struggle with banks’, published in the Jamaica Observer on May 10, 2026, and I was motivated to write to you about my recent experience in Jamaica. My wife and I are seniors who visited Jamaica this summer for the first time.

The standard advice for foreign travellers, provided by a travel agent and online sources, is that credit cards are widely accepted and US currency is preferred over Jamaican dollars. Based on that, I expected to primarily use a credit card with a small amount of US currency and did not carry any Jamaican money.

This advice might have been more appropriate for the majority of foreign travellers who stay in high-end gated resorts. That was not our choice. We booked an all-inclusive package with a small family-owned resort on one of Jamaica’s most beautiful beaches. We quickly discovered that a credit card was not easily accepted. We were asked for either US or Jamaican dollars. This is how we were accidentally drawn into the vortex of Jamaican automated teller machine (ATM) banking.

I was directed to a local ATM, which I expected to be something like what we have available in Canada. As I approached one evening, I was startled to see long lines of people — more a crowd, and in no particular order — waiting for their turn to access one of two locked cubicles.

After considerable waiting, I finally entered and tried to withdraw Jamaican dollars with my credit card. Again, it was startling to see the multiple steps, the incredible list of transaction fees and, in the end, no money issued! I felt some panic, but was assured the transaction did not go through. Evidently, the machine was out of currency.

This experience repeated itself at a few more scattered ATMs, which turned out to be locked or out of US and/or Jamaican currency. As a Canadian, I felt embarrassed to see the BNS logo illuminated above these ATMs, and I was puzzled as to why Jamaicans put up with this.

From my perspective, it seems the ATM system is designed to obstruct, frustrate — and punish — a substantial but prevalent underground cash economy. As a foreign visitor it seems incredibly backward and self-destructive. Hard-working Jamaican citizens deserve more in this 21st century.

While I use the services of a large commercial bank, I have also been a member of a credit union for decades. My first thought was credit unions might be one option for Jamaicans to resist exploitation from banks. Shifting even part of their savings to a credit union would strengthen the organisation, and sharing in ownership is a psychological shift as receiving even a small dividend at the end of the year would be a plus.

For the Government’s part, I think it should definitely regulate banking fees and outlaw some. It could go further and mandate some government departments to deposit funds in an approved credit union with the understanding that this could support the expansion of regional services. In the meantime, more stringent minimum standards should be set for the operation of ATMs.

Jamaicans themselves should recognise that paying a fair share of taxes would be more beneficial to support schools, hospitals, roads, and other public services rather than that money disappearing as banking fees into faceless financial institutions.

I hope Jamaicans will one day get angry and demand fair and modern banking services.

Mike Richard

mdrichard@teksavvy.com