Senator Bernard questions whether JCCA will address vexed issue of banking fees

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Opposition Senator Alan Bernard has argued that the soon-to-be established Jamaica Consumer and Competition Authority (JCCA) should be empowered to address the vexed issue of banking fees. Bernard made the argument in the Senate on Friday, during his contribution to the debate on the JCCA Bill that will establish the authority, while replacing the Consumer Affairs Commission (CAC) and the Fair Trading Commission (FTC). The bill, which was piloted by the Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Senator Aubyn Hill, was eventually passed with three amendments.

Bernard told the Parliament that if the market itself is producing practices that adversely affect consumers, this new authority should be capable of studying that market through both the consumer-protection and competition lenses. “The bill already empowers the authority to collect and analyse information concerning trade and to undertake studies and reports on competition and consumer interests. Banking fees are an obvious candidate for that kind of examination,” he stated.

He said such examination is not about arbitrarily setting bank prices, undermining the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ), or to prevent legitimate cost recovery. Rather, he said it was to determine whether the market is working fairly for consumers. “Because a $200 fee here, a $300 fee there, a transaction charge, a service charge [or] an account charge may individually appear small.

But to a pensioner, a minimum-wage worker, a small business operator or a household already struggling with the cost of living in these perilous times, those charges accumulate,” said Bernard. “And the fact that an individual amount may be too small to justify expensive litigation is precisely why strong consumer institutions matter,” he added. The Opposition lawmaker asked Senator Hill to clarify the jurisdiction over regulated financial services.

“Can a consumer challenge a banking term or fee before the Jamaica Consumer and Competition Authority and, ultimately, the Consumer and Competition Tribunal on the ground that the term is manifestly unfair to a consumer?” Bernard asked. He said if the answer was yes, it should be stated clearly and, if no, it should be made clear which institution has jurisdiction, to determine the substantive fairness of that fee, and not merely whether it was properly disclosed.