Keeping in mind that money and banks and the fear of Pakistan going bankrupt are so much in the news, in a bizarre backdrop of the country itself facing political dangers on numerous counts, and fronts, it is easy to comprehend the worries that hit Karachi housewives last week vis-a-vis their bank lockers being frozen; or foreign exchange accounts could also be made inoperative - or frozen for an indefinite period.
The word indefinite or uncertain speaks volumes of the way in which we live today. No one seems to know anything for sure. There is a global financial crisis, and interestingly, commercial banks are coming up with more and more branches! Welcome!
Having said this to try and give a perception of what is in the air, there is a news item that has appeared in a national daily (The News) which says that CEOs to go on air to ward off a run on banks". The story is that "chief executives and senior executives of top banks are set to appear on major television networks and trade forums to float the packages of better services, that would ward off false alarms about the run on banks."
From this report it appears that most top bankers were shy of being quoted by name and designation, while the National Bank of Pakistan CEO, Syed Ali Raza, was "willing to face any question in this regard". It will be interesting to see what the CEOs of banks or their top spokesmen are going to tell the public. A public worried, skeptical, and vulnerable.
An AFP report from Islamabad in this daily said yesterday: "Already nearly broke when the global financial crisis took hold, Pakistan now faces further woes that could take the nuclear-armed security situation closer to the edge, experts said. The country has been forced to seek 10 billion dollars from western backers to stave off the threat of going bankrupt as early as February 2009".
Given the credibility crisis and cynicism that we have integrated into our lives, and the misinformation and disinformation that we have become accustomed to, one would not be surprised were there to be more reports and rumours on the banking front in the days ahead, which could heighten the anxieties of the Pakistani public. Banking services and better banking services is one aspect of the matter.
It is extremely pertinent to recall here what happened this month, on Eid-ul-Fitr when banks in the city, and elsewhere in the country, including the capital, the sophisticated, Red Zone city Islamabad ran out of cash at a large number (if not all) of Automated Teller Machines (ATM) machines. It is easy to imagine the frustration and the nightmare that bank customers must have experienced when they realised that there was no cash available to them for Eid, as the ATMs were either mal-functional or out of cash.
There is reason to pause here and contemplate this image and reality of the ATMs in Pakistani society. I can recall that some time not too long ago the State Bank of Pakistan had warned bank customers to be careful while withdrawing cash from dimly lit ATM machines. The cause: street crime being a growing reality in our society. That it is linked to factors like poor policing and appalling poverty is obviously part of the ills that we suffer from.
I don't know the extent of the compliance of the SBP directives to have these ATMs in properly lit locations, and I do not know whether the unsatisfactory performance of the ATMs during Eid-ul-Fitr have been taken notice of by the State Bank. The media focus on the ATMs was high when newspapers appeared after a two-day break, and that reflected once again, the larger problem of governance and performance in this country. How much of the demand for new currency notes, and their black-marketing was attributable to the banks themselves, or their staff that is, another matter seeking explanations.
Keeping bank customers in mind, I am also reminded here of numerous other service related issues that are faced by them for a variety of reasons, like power shortages or failure of the information technology that slows down or stops working at bank branches. What happened at a bank branch in Saddar, Karachi, when lockers were broken into and customers robbed of their valuables and cash may not be routine, but it does mirror the kind of infrastructure and human resource quality that even the best of the corporate sector has. The above incident occurred a couple of months ago, and made customers realise the vulnerability they could face even with their gold and cash stored in bank lockers. Not to mention the fears that housewives express of how nervous they feel when they use their lockers, either way.
The vulnerability of the Pakistani, which is found to be escalating steadily and disturbingly on so many socio political counts, has taken on another form. Whether cash is a better option or a credit or debit card, which is the recent product that banks are promoting. That is a question that is being asked. The advantages of using cash and the advantages of using a credit card are subjects that are being debated and discussed, both in the micro and macro sense. The disadvantages of either do not relate to crime alone, it also connects with the banking system.
There is the risk of being robbed of cash and there is the risk of being kidnapped and taken around by the kidnappers ensuring that the credit card is well used, and neatly spent. I know people who have cut down on the practice of carrying their credit cards, and also their cash, due to these many growing fears, and the stories they often hear. I also know citizens who are afraid to use their ATMs because of being robed right outside the ATM, - and the risk of the teller machine again signalling operational failure.
Returning to the possibility of CEOs of banks talking to the people, it sounds like a good idea if only what they say can be translated into reality down the line to every bank branch, and through every member of staff and employees. Or else it will be akin to the way our officialdom speaks and politicians argue and promise. And the global financial crisis, and bankruptcy fears, that theme is scary for ordinary people to say the least.(nusratnasarullah0@hotmail.com)