Banks’ staff are scapegoats for sins of the fat-cats

IN recent months frontline bank officials have experienced a new phenomenon at work — an unprecedented level of vitriol and abuse, including threats of violence from bank customers and members of the public who blame the regular staff working in the branches for the excesses of a handful of high-fliers at the top of these institutions.

Bank staff feel particularly aggrieved because the new culture in banking — which has led to most of the current difficulties in the financial services sector — is one they have spoken out against on many occasions in the past — through their representatives in IBOA the Finance Union.

Five years ago IBOA warned that the introduction of new practices within the sector — driven by the banks’ obsession with maximising short-term shareholder value at the expense of long-term stability and prudence — would not only inconvenience customers and pressurise staff but ultimately undermine the entire financial services sector. But at the height of the property boom, no one wanted to hear negative warnings from a bunch of party-poopers.