(Barbados Nation) – Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley has taken the financial institutions to task over high bank fees, her upbraiding coming on the heels of Central Bank Governor Cleviston Haynes announcing a cap on point of sale and ATM fees for banks and credit unions.
Mottley, who was the featured speaker at the Barbados Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s luncheon at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre on Wednesday, held under the theme Building Bridges For Successful Economic Recovery, said that the state of play as it pertained to banking in Barbados was untenable.
She praised the Central Bank for the steps taken to bring balance to the financial landscape.
“The next thing we are going to hear is that the bank is going to charge you a fee depending on how skinny you are or how fat you are or depending on how much pressure you put on the ATM or otherwise. It cannot be,” said Mottley.
She added: “I am not meaning to be invidious and I am not meaning to be offensive in any way, but I don’t know how many more times to say it. And therefore I have advised the Governor of the Central Bank that if we don’t get it right, then the Government will legislate because it is not fair to the people or businesses in this nation.”
