In this era of bank mergers and other banking reforms, public are at odds in various ways in sharp contrast to the past. Senior citizens who used to live comfortably on the interest earned on their savings cannot make ends meet nowadays. The interest rates on deposits are a paltry 4.5% pa which most of the times are at par with the inflation rate. Utilities bills are soaring to the benefit of the government. ATMs which were a boon are slowly but surely being whittled out due to cost cutting of banks. Moreover cyber crimes and robberies of ATMs have negatively affected these banking services. Research and innovation in the banking sector could deter these reductions and also quality of service of ATMs. Most of the time ATMs are displayed with big notices "out of order" or "no cash ".
Cyber crimes are on the rise as most of the population is not cyber savy. Banks should organise seminars to educate the public in this regard. The RBI should not impose moratoriums on withdrawals of public money in certain banks but they should rather penalise the directors who were guilty of impropriety in the first place. Banking reforms are needed but always with an eye on the financial health of the people.
