By: Randy Dagasdas
A few months ago, CBC had an article regarding the pressure placed on bank employees to sell products to customers.Bank employees were selling products that they don’t need and want to meet their own personal target and ultimately so they can keep their job (Johnson, 2017). After the initial news, more employees and even managers contacted CBC to tell the same story. Employees were being force to sell products when it is not in the best interest for their customers. This is a paradox for financial institution especially when customers place a high value and trust to their financial advisors.
As a consumer, it is your obligation to be educated with your finances. Make sure that you have a conversation with your bank advisor before any financial decisions are made. Moreover, make sure that you meet with as many bank advisors until you are able to make your own decision. You must be able to gather your own information to make a well-informed decision. You must be able to ask the right questions to get the right answers. This is only possible if you made your own research. Ideally, your advisor should only guide your decision instead of making the
decision for you. This is a similar idea when you purchase your vehicle. You have to test drive multiple cars and in different models to ensure that the vehicle fits your lifestyle and your needs. The decision on what to purchase is made after you driven enough vehicles to make your purchasing decision.
Ultimately, it is your decision. Make sure that you are making an informed decision. You are making a personal investment for your finances by gathering the information(s) required to make a great financial decision. Please do not hesitate to contact me directly for any questions regarding your finances.
Randy Dagasdas, BComm(Hons),
ACUIC, EMBA (c)
Founder of LearnMB.org: Non-Profit Organization
focusing on Financial Literacy
Reference:
Johnson, E. (2017). ‘We are all doing it’: Employees
at Canada’s 5 big banks speak out
about pressure to dupe customers. Retrieved
from http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/
banks-upselling-go-public-1.4023575