Irresponsible and unprofessional

Frankly, I’m quite disappointed with the level of professionalism displayed by all banks today. In the quest for profits and more profits, the banks have failed to train their younger staff properly. The trend was seen starting about 10 years ago. It was still tolerable then, but not now.

If you don’t know what I’m referring to, let me explain. Everyone that works in the banking industry today knows that selling their products is very much part of their job. Such is the competition for business among banks that the staff knows no boundaries for the sake of closing a sale, finalising a deal or pushing a product.

There is little care whether the sale, deal or push will actually benefit the customer. As long as there is a transaction that benefits the bank’s bottom line, the bank will want to push it through because ultimately, that’s the pressure on the staff. Many old bank staff feels uncomfortable with this role – they feel that they are betraying the customers that they are so familiar with – but to new bank staff, it is second nature to them that they are bank salesmen. They know of no other alternative.

I met an elderly couple this evening. Both are in their mid-seventies. They knew that I have an active interest in financial planning – investments and estate planning – so they asked me to look at the copies of two application forms in their hands. They were illiterate and wanted an explanation of the two forms.

I was surprised. The forms turned out to be applications for some unit trust funds. One was a third-party global infrastructure fund marketed by Maybank while the other was a Euro equity fund from Public Mutual.

I was surprised because all that the elderly couple had done at the branches of these two banks was to ask the bank staff for alternatives to their maturing fixed deposits. Immediately, they were sweet-talked into transferring their money into the two funds with promises of good profits.

Is that the way that a responsible bank or even an agent would make a sale? Sales at any cost, regardless of the client’s tolerance to risk? This couple are in their mid-seventies and illiterate. Do they understand the modern concept of risk in this fast-changing world? It’s already so difficult to explain to them. A responsible financial planner will not want to ensure that their savings would be subjected to the risks of the local or global market. They don’t have time to recoup any loss should the market reverse itself.

I’m saddened that banks are allowing this to happen to their account holders. Where is their social conscience? Where is their responsibility? Where is their professionalism? They started disappearing about 10 years ago.