CCZ accuses financial services sector of poor delivery

Consumer Rights Day today, it has come out in attack of the financial services sector for poor service delivery.
This year’s theme is “Consumers for Fair Financial Services”.
CCZ executive director Ms Rosemary Siyachitema said the theme was significant in the context of Zimbabwe, where the financial sector has been dominated by confusion and mistrust due to hyperinflation and economic hardships that were experienced in the past years.
“Consumers have developed distrust and insecurity in the banking sector emanating from the curatorship of banks and freezing of accounts of all depositors without any compensation during the dollarisation of the economy in 2009. “Most people were left in poverty as they lost their savings, especially pensioners who received their funds through the banks and lost the money they worked for many years,” said Ms Siyachitema in a statement.
CCZ added that in insurance institutions there are delays in compensation of damages and the process is time consuming which inconveniences the consumer. Some insurance companies gave little information to consumers on the terms of the insurance contracts, and this was discouraging consumers from seeking insurance services as they feel that the institutions are unreliable. CCZ called upon all financial service providers to adopt good financial ethics that boost confidence of their consumers in terms of security of their money.
As part of the celebrations, CCZ will host a symposium in the capital with relevant service providers presenting papers on how best they can improve the sector. According to the CCZ similar activities will be held in Gweru, Bulawayo, Mutare and Masvingo and representatives will include the Ministry of Finance, Bankers Association of Zimbabwe, Insurance Council of Zimbabwe and NSSA among others.