By Billy Mijungu
I have been thinking deeply lately: why should any financial institution charge me to withdraw my own money, money that sits in their vaults and helps them thrive through lending activities?
It is time we reversed how we deal with banks. Instead, banks should be telling us what benefits they offer us for choosing to keep our money in their institutions.
While paying for certain financial products and services is understandable, any transfer of our own money to ourselves or withdrawal of our own funds should not attract charges because it is fundamentally our money.
The service of choosing to keep my money with a bank should naturally come with the freedom to access it without penalties. Allowing me to withdraw my own money should be complementary to the trust I place in the institution by banking with them.
What makes it even worse is the taxation attached to these withdrawals. Why should I pay tax on money that was already taxed before I deposited it in the bank? Through withdrawal charges, banks benefit and on top of that, I still pay excise duty. This system needs urgent reconsideration.
It is time financial institutions reorganized how they operate.
In fact, the greatest business opportunity in the banking sector today would be the creation of a bank that completely abolishes withdrawal charges. Any institution built on the principle of not charging customers to access their own money is bound to disrupt the industry and eventually surpass the existing players.
The question now is: who will blink first, the consumer protection sector or a bold new player in the banking industry?
