All entries for Tuesday 07 March 2006

Banking as a human right

There was a discussion on Radio 4, I think yesterday morning, which concerned banking and the 'essential' commodity of a current bank account.

One of the guests was arguing that the possession of a bank account was a human right, as life without one in this day and age is incredibly difficult. He said that he thought banks should not be allowed to refuse potential customers.

Now, I can understand the sentiment, but banks are ultimately profit-making organisations, and any other business would not be forced to do something they felt would be financially dubious, even if it were disadvantageous to a potential customer.

Also worth considering is that, for most of our other 'essential services', public organisations exist to cater for our needs: the NHS to provide healthcare, the police to enforce the law, state schools for education. Why not for banking?

So…

• Should banks retain the ability to reject a person's custom if they want?


• Is banking a human right?


• If it is, but if we unhold the rights of the banks to reject customers, how do we resolve the problem?

: 07 Mar 2006 13:47 |  Tags: Ethics Politics |  Comments (9) |  Close comments |  Report a problem