Reading about the many bad experiences of banks customers, I am reminded of Bank Negara's earlier call during the petrol price hike to all banks to help their customers meet their commitments and not overly burden them.

I noted at that time that several financial institutions came out to state that they would help their customers with various financial instruments to ease their burden.

But in this time of a global financial crisis, an escalating cost of living and the threat of recession, none of the financial institutions have stepped up to the bat and thought about the customers. All of them are scrambling to further tighten their credit controls, limit lending while stepping up their collection activities.

Banks should be socially responsible by helping their customers regularly and not just by doing year-end charity donations all for the sake of tax rebates.

Most families are burdened with the following main commitments - housing loans, car loans, credit card debts and in some cases, personal loans. The secondary commitments would normally be for children, parents, food, utilities, school fees, tuition, etc.

In good times, all of the above would be enough for a normal family to cope with but in rough times like these, it would be overwhelming.

In times like this, many families will have to decide which is more important - to feed and clothe their families or pay their commitments. No prizes on which commitment gets the priority. Unsurprisingly, banks’ non-performing loans are increase during this time.

No one wants to default on their loan payments as no one wants to be taken to court and declared a judgment debtor or a bankrupt. But somehow, our esteemed financial institutions lack the human compassion to help their customers through the rough patches.

They don't seem to consider that this situation is only a hiccup and once the global economy recovers, their customers’ finances will also improve. Instead of thinking of ways to help the customer get through this rough patch and strengthen customers’ loyalty, they stick to the standard dogma of:

‘You are in arrears of this amount, we will have to foreclose/repossess your property. If you want it back then you have to pay us the amount in arrears plus interest plus administrative cost plus X number of months in advance.’

How does this help a customer who is trying his/her best to make ends meet? Where are they going to get this money? Rob a bank? Steal from their neighbours? Borrow from the Ah Long? All this will lead to increased crime, suicides, etc.

Even if the bank repossesses or forecloses on the property, the customer's nightmare is still not over as the bank will still charge him interest on the amount in arrears.

If the customer cannot clear the arrears, she/he will be taken to court, declared a defaulter and ultimately, a bankrupt. As a bankrupt, she/he will have difficulty in finding a job or have any savings or assets.

Have the banks considered the cost of losing a customer because of this action versus the cost of helping a customer through a rough patch and cementing the customer's loyalty and opening up more channels for cross-marketing?

To all bank CEOs and credit heads out there, have a heart as you will reap what you have sown sooner or later. Open up your minds and think out of the box.