State Bank of India vs. LLoyds TSB

So, here we have two banks. Both of which are majority owned by their respective governments. Both of which are old institutions in their countries.

I have an account at Lloyds in the UK. I have been trying to get them to send me statements for my accounts so that I can give them to the British High Commission in Delhi. Their response? “No”. Their response when I ask them to print them in the branch? “No, we don’t do that any more, it’s a new FSA regulation”.

This might be the sort of thing you’d expect them to put in writing if asked, or at the very least put up a sign that says that regulations may have changed. But no. In addition to the fact that they’ve arbitrarily changed all the regulations, the staff are also extremely rude and unhelpful, and are completely unwilling to offer any assistance to a customer of more than ten years. To me, this smacks of the typical profit centric mode of thought that the UK seems to operate under.

The ‘Customer’ is not a customer. If you are an account holder with a high street bank, you are the Product, not the Customer. The Customer is the bank itself, or the bank’s investors. Providing financial services to human beings is no longer a core business for these entities. Core to them is providing profit for shareholders, nothing more.

The SBI staff in New Delhi, on the other hand, were polite, helpful, experienced, and willing to understand my wife’s needs. The woman at the desk took the time to explain things to my missus, and even gave her security tips about being careful with her account details, pin number, etc.

Why is it that a major bank in the UK, supposedly the bankers’ capital of the world, cannot even ‘get’ the idea of being helpful?