The Consumers Association of Malawi (CAMA) says it is concerned with the poor banking service delivery on digital transactions especially the Point of Sale (POS) and Automatic Teller Machines (ATM), saying they have become a humiliation and an embarrassment to consumers as well as traders.
In a statement, Executive Director John Kapito said consumers find it difficult to do digital payment transactions due to poor internet connectivity and failure to dispense money.
Kapito added that digital payment systems especially POS and ATM are meant to improve speed for digital financial transactions, maximize total security protection, and create a cashless digital market to reduce the cost of printing cash paper which should benefit both the consumer, trader, government, and the banks.
“It is therefore sad that both the banks and government are unable to take advantage of this innovative technology to capture the many unbanked consumers.
“What is more frustrating when using POS, ATMs, and other financial payment platforms is the number of failed transactions to have a service and the time and pain the consumer undergoes to have the failed transaction reversed is worsened by the poor customer care at the call centers. It is costly and frustrating moving from one ATM to the other only to find all the ATMs out of service,” said Kapito.
He went on to say that it is surprising that despite the supernormal profits that the banks make every year, they cannot invest in the latest and functioning ATMs and provide better internet facilities including better working call centers.
Kapito added that it is extremely difficult to register a complaint with the banks and expect a quick response especially when a consumer is looking for reversals on failed transactions and is worsened by staff members of the banks who are generally born rude towards the many poor Consumers who are victims of poor banking services.
He said: “Traders are unwilling to use POS due to factors largely associated with internet connectivity failures and it becomes a huge challenge when a purchase is almost concluded and the network has failed.
“Consumers go through humiliation as banks cannot reverse the failed transaction and the consumer is unable to access cash to pay for the already purchased goods and this is much worse for consumers that have traveled long distances and cannot be assisted by way of reversals by the banks.”
Meanwhile, Kapito has urged banks to invest in financial inclusion and the Reserve Bank of Malawi to ensure that the Banks are complying with regulations.
