Don’t panic, Friday’s bank strike ‘will have little impact’

The looming banking sector “total shutdown” will have little or no impact on services other than causing panic, economists have said as banking institutions ensure clients of usual operations, although the poor would be most affected due to their reliance on cash.

The South African Society of Bank Officials (Sasbo), the country’s largest financial sector trade union, affiliates of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), has vowed to bring the sector to a standstill on Friday.

The trade union has advised people to ensure they have enough cash by the end of Thursday as there will be no operational ATMs or card transactions.

This is exactly the panic that the union hopes to cause, according to independent economist Sam Rolland, who said banks were likely to have to deal with panic-stricken clients, but should suffer no other significant impact.

“This is unless the strike significantly impacts on actual transactions, which is unlikely to happen as month-end transactions and payments would have been processed by Friday. People will still be paid and, other than those who deal with cash, there will not be much of a problem,” he said.

The Banking Association South Africa (Basa) is also pinning its hopes on a legal bid by Business Unity South Africa to foil the strike, with the application for an interdict stopping the strike scheduled to be heard and decided on today.

According to the association, the strike notice sent to the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac), under which the union is planning to act, may lack some of the requirements for a protected strike.

The Nedlac notice, Basa said in a statement, was first issued in August 2017 and could not be relied on in 2019. But the union argued that the strike was protected under section 77 of the Labour Relations Act as it was related to a socioeconomic matter and Sasbo had a certificate from Nedlac.

The union said as many as 50,000 workers were expected to take part in marches and pickets against recent retrenchments. The marches were scheduled to take place in Joburg, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein and Durban.

The South African Revenue Service (Sars) warned that the strike may impact tax payment and refund transactions, encouraging taxpayers to conduct any transactions with Sars at least two business days in advance.

Yesterday, the major banks said they had taken contingency measures to ensure services were not interrupted, with lenders such as First National Bank and Standard Bank encouraging clients to utilise online banking facilities.

In text messages dispatched to clients yesterday, Standard Bank said it had effective business continuity in place to mitigate any impact and maintain best possible service levels “should the protest go ahead”.

Earlier this year, Standard Bank closed down 91 branches, with reports of Absa warning of hundreds of jobs at risk due to restructuring.

The banking association said the global banking industry was evolving in response to economic pressures, digital innovation and the changing way customers use and consume financial services.

“The reduction of staff numbers in traditional banking services is a worldwide phenomenon. Many in the South African banking industry are having to restructure their businesses to ensure they remain sustainable and relevant,” Basa said in a statement.

INFO

The country’s poorer people will be the hardest hit by the impending banking sector strike as they need cash for day-to-day transactions, chief economist at Economists. co.za, Mike Schussler, said.

• He said the strike would not have much impact as most people have migrated to electronic banking systems which need no physical staffing, as is the case with over-the-counter transactions.
• “The electronic banking system will not be impacted as it is not person-based. But if you rely on cash, like the poorer people do, there could be a problem. If you get to a filling station and you have your card, no problem, but if you need cash you will need to go to an ATM or a branch and that could be a problem,” Schussler said.
• Not all ATM’s will be affected because they were serviced by security companies, not banking staff. – Citizen reporter

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