Fitz Jackson, the St. Catherine Southern Member of Parliament, has asked the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) to step in when he claims that people who have accounts with banks and other financial organizations have lost up to $1 billion.
Along with addressing that issue, Jackson also wants the central bank called to a meeting of the Parliament’s Economy and Production Committee to discuss the complex problem of faulty automated teller machines (ATMs), which he claimed is causing consumers inconvenience.
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He recently made a motion in the House of Representatives when he said.
About money missing from accounts, Jackson stated: “A large and growing number of account holders at banks and other financial institutions in Jamaica have been experiencing substantial losses of nearly $1 billion from their accounts.”
According to him, many account holders are having trouble recouping their losses, and in many cases, when losses that are reported or partially reported are refunded to account holders after several months, the account holders would have already gone through “severe hardships” in the interim.
Jackson is also requesting that the BOJ take into account establishing minimum service requirements for ATMs. He made the plea while drawing attention to the public’s mounting complaints about broken ATMs that frequently run out of money.
Jackson emphasized the necessity for banks and other financial institutions to require their clients to use ATMs, citing the fact that many Jamaicans are compelled to do so in order to access their earnings and obtain cash for everyday needs.
“Whereas many of the automated teller machines or their equivalent regularly malfunction, causing inconvenience, difficulties and hardships to account holders. Be it …resolved that the BOJ establishes minimum service standards for the operations of its licensees with accompanying sanctions where none currently exists,” Jackson noted.
In order to explore the concerns and challenges he raised in his proposal; he said the Parliament’s Economy and Production Committee should seek to call a meeting with the BOJ within 45 days of it being read in the House.
