The Consumer Council of Fiji has raised concerns that no one is seriously looking into issues arising from financial services.
While speaking in the Public Accounts Committee meeting, CEO Premila Kumar says unfortunately there is no organisation in existence which can look into financial matters.
Kumar says the council has proposed that all financial matters should be independently looked at by a financial ombudsman and not the Reserve Bank of Fiji.
She says they feel the public and the policy makers are too focused on supermarkets and the groceries that people are buying and no one is focusing on financial services.
Kumar says in 2009 they had produced a banking report where they exposed hidden fees and charges.
She says 11 fees and charges were later reduced however the worry is that new fees and charges have cropped up.
Kumar also revealed that ANZ recently withdrew the overdraft facility for consumers and this has only been done for the Pacific consumers.
She says this product is available in Australia and New Zealand.
When questioned, ANZ’s Head of Retail Fiji Joanne Stewart says they have removed the overdraft facility for personal customers only and business customers still have access to this facility.
Stay tuned for the latest news on our radio stations