Dear Editor,
Banks are up in arms over the leaking of the uncensored report of the Competition Commission over South Africa's exorbitant bank charges.
The Commission published a technical report on the investigation on its website, with large portions censored at the request of the banks. An uncensored version however became available on the Wikileaks website.
The report by the investigating panel, chaired by former judge Thabani Jali, found that the banks were colluding to stifle effective competition in the sector. Costs levied were exorbitant and not calculated on the basis of real expenses, reads the report.
My personal experience has been that some banks are dishonest about their charges, especially annual charges, and even do misleading advertisements over interest paid to investors. For example, they tout higher interest rates on unmoved investments while in actual fact that is compounded interest, interest on the interest earned in the previous month. In other words, it is owed to you for not moving the investment, not some kind of kindness from the bank.
I believe there is no confidential information in the public sector. The people should decide whether they want to know it all or not. Serves the banks right then, and everyone should go to Wikileaks and get the uncensored information.
Be angry, it's your right to be!
Pieter Joubert,
Pretoria
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