Consumer advocate Maureen Holder has slammed customer service standards in banking, warning that an overreliance on rigid procedures is undermining common-sense decision-making and frustrating customers across the island.

Holder, executive chair of the Barbados Consumer Empowerment Network (BCEN), said the banking culture is one in which procedure becomes more important than discretion or logical thinking.

Holder told Barbados TODAY: “Recent experiences reported by consumers continue to raise an uncomfortable question: are some commercial banks in Barbados placing excessive emphasis on rigid procedures at the expense of common sense, customer service, and modern risk-based decision-making?”