In the second installment of the series on the downsizing of commercial banks, Carla Palmer asks consumers for their take. Kendra Adderley is an avid user of the internet and takes full advantage of online payment opportunities. She said, “I do everything online now and everything that like banks that I had credit cards with that I don’t have online banking with I just close ’em out. I don’t go in no utility place pay all by credit card. Its a pity I can’t order my groceries online.”
On the flip side, Ashley Gilbert has her reservations about the issue. She said, “Yes I am very hesitant. I would prefer going, more so, into the bank because I can get a better understanding of what I’m faced with or anything like that. Now that the online banking has been pressured, I should say, still have no clue exactly why.”
In the face of some reluctance to online banking by some consumers, the Governor of the Center Bank asserts that online banking is a sign of progress. He said, “we should never say that we’re forcing, and I know that is a word that is used and it sometimes feels that way. It’s point in my view, the fact that the process needs to be more finessed in terms of how these changes occur. The progress here is not measured in terms of how many branches exist in The Bahamas versus not or how many ATMs exist versus not but in terms of the overall access to services. “
Mr. Rolle sees online banking as part of advancing the sector locally and keeping pace with industry trends. He went further in his comments saying, “we have to accept that the process of moving from this world to the digital world does need much more fine tuning. What we should not assume in that process though is that there is an option of staying where we are.”
