In an effort to promote good banking practice, the Guyana Association of Bankers yesterday formally launched its Code of Banking Practice- the first of its kind in the country.

The purpose of the code is to outline standards of good practice and service, promote the disclosure of information that is both relevant and useful to customers, promote informed and effective relationships between banks and their customers and  to ensure that banks have procedures for resolution of disputes with its customers. The Code is subject to review every three years.

On the question of bank charges which has attracted criticisms over the years, the code says at 5.1 “A bank shall, before or at the time of providing a particular banking service to a customer for the first time or otherwise on request by a customer, make available to the customer a schedule containing the standard fees and charges which currently apply to the Banking service”. Where the bank provides the customer with a payment service the bank shall make available to the customer details of any fees applying to the service.

In relation to dispute resolution, the code states that a dispute arises when a customer lodges a complaint with the bank concerning a matter. Thereafter, the code states that the bank shall have an internal process for handling the dispute which will be done at no charge to the customer.

This process is expected to be completed within a maximum of two months and the outcome should be communicated to the customer in writing.

Meanwhile, under the code, the bank is sworn to privacy and confidentiality regarding the affairs of a customer, except under specific situations provided under the Financial Institutions Act, Companies Act, The Securities (Industry) Act, Tax Act and the relevant aspects of the Anti-Money Launder-ing Law.

At the launching ceremony held at the Republic Bank Head Office, Chairman of the Association John Tracey pointed out that the code seeks to foster greater communication between financial institutions and their customers.  He pointed out that the code represented a formal documentation of banking practices that were already in existence.

He pointed out that such codes were not new to banking institutions and explained that the local code was patterned after that which currently exists in Trinidad and Tobago.  Now that the code has been launched, Tracey explained that the Bankers Association will now engage in a massive education campaign.

Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh saluted this initiative as the latest of several positive developments that have occurred in the banking sector in recent years.  He noted that the voluntary subscription to the code by the banks offers greater openness and transparency in the relationship between these financial institutions and their customers.  Singh also opined that it will promote healthy competition among the banks.

Meanwhile, Singh also called on the banks to work together on a single point-of-sales terminal which would be able to process all the cards from the different banks. This, he suggested, would be easier on customers and would be cheaper on the banking institutions.  He urged the banks to embrace the use of technology even more and use it to increase their coverage to various sections of the population.

Singh further said that the task of promoting competitiveness and growth in the economy was not solely the responsibility of the government but also extended to the private sector.  He also urged domestic   and private operators to reflect on how they can improve competitiveness. Speaking specifically about the banking sector in Guyana, the Finance Minister, said that local banks have performed well especially when compared with other such institutions internationally.

He stated too that local banks have responded favourably to the regulating regimes that have been put in place.

The Guyana Association of Bankers consists of Republic Bank, GBTI, Scotiabank, Demerara Bank Ltd, Citizens Bank and the Bank of Baroda (Guyana) Inc.

Copies of the code are expected to be distributed to bank customers from today.