In my early practical life, I worked with two commercial banks for some years before I moved on to other avenues. Those were the days when, generally speaking, client service was uppermost as a policy in the mind of the banks and the bankers.
Rules were in place and they were rather stringent, but the officers had space for bona fide intervention when they thought one was necessary.
After about 60 years, as I go to the bank as a mere pensioner, I realise that compliance back in the day was supreme.
I have a joint account where my funded pension from a corporate is being sent for quite some time.
The bank recently informed me that the pension could no longer be credited to the existing account and I needed to have a separate account as a single person. I was shown a circular of the Ministry of Finance to support the demand. I told them that the circular pertained to the pension paid from the exchequer and not to the pension from a corporate.
However, the bank staff insisted that I follow the instructions as they feared objection from the audit department.
I protested, but to no avail, and finally gave them a request to open another account.
This set in motion another dark tale. The bank officer asked me to provide proof of the fact that I was a retired pensioner. I reminded him that the bank already had that proof which had been submitted when I had opened the joint account. He told me that this was a new account and I had to submit that proof again for this one.
I narrated to him the old story about the office of the Accountant-General Pakistan Revenues (AGPR) when the pension of an individual was released for May, but not for April because life certificate for April had not been provided.
The banker took some time to get the humour, but insisted that the current situation was different. I surrendered, and provided the certificate a second time.
Soon enough, things took another turn. I received a pension cheque in the name of ‘M H As…’ while the bank account carried my full name as per my CNIC as ‘Muh… Ha… As…’ The operations manager wanted the cheque corrected, again citing a possible audit objection. By the way, the proof of my being a retired person also carried the short name as that is how I was known by all and sundry for 45 odd years.
I lost my nerve finally, and tore the cheque in frustration. Not a nice thing to do and I am not proud of it. Of course, I will go back to my employer to have another cheque issued with my full name as beggars cannot be choosers.
This narration is not a complaint of the bank branch or its officers. It is just a lament even though I know it will fall on deaf ears. But maybe, just maybe, some top officials of the banks of today will give an objective thought to the overemphasis on compliance in the world of growing paperless offices.
In olden times, there was no such thing as computer or photocopying machine. It was all done by hand and paper, yet life was easier. The bank officers were told to take no risks, but not to convert the rules into the dreaded red-tape.
If a bank officer was satisfied, he would initial the document and strict compliance of rule would be relaxed. He would not insist on life certificate of April while paying the May pension.
M H ASIF
KARACHI
