Dear Editor,
According to page 17 of SN of June 18, 2019, it took the full weight of the authority of the Governor of the Bank of Guyana to scold the management of Republic Bank (Guyana) that they have ‘to refund for all fraudulent activity on its Visa International Debit Cards’, rather just ‘paying customers for fraudulent purchases made within three months of a report’.
One hopes that this incident is seen as more than one of routine financial decision-making, and that instead it inheres profound moral implications.
More distantly perhaps, some would ask to what extent did the Bank’s local management ponder on the level of trust they would have lost, when they resorted to the flimsy stance claimed on VISA – questionable in the latter’s own backyard?
But it is hardly enough for individual customers to protest and the BoG to intervene, for in between them there is a resounding silence emitting from the leaders of industry and commerce, if only to reinforce to their own customers the moral values they uphold, or should uphold.
It so happens that our society is experiencing a serious crisis of trust – ranging from sugar to oil, and industrial relationships in between.
Leaders anywhere need to be conscious of their responsibility to set examples of rectitude to the young generations so persistently bombarded by the misinformation on social media, from which underprepared elders cannot protect them.
So that business institutions must make their contribution through exemplary behaviour. As for the bank in question it might be interesting for its management to ascertain how their own staff feel about their equivocative decision. How is their integrity measured?
Yours faithfully,
E.B. John
