Everyday ethical decisions need to be addressed in banking
Student Banking & Finance Oath ambassador Alex Green today called on new industry colleagues to address ethical issues on a daily basis.
Alex, who has had stints working in Wespac and Citi, said graduates transitioning from university to work life need to learn to make the right moral choices on everyday decisions.
He said: “Dr Simon Longstaff of the Ethics Centre made a direct plea to the new generation entering the finance industry in Australia to get together and push for change.
“Specifically, he urged for an overhaul of the foundations of the banking and finance industry, which were shown to be flawed by Kenneth Hayne and the Banking Royal Commission.
“As a member of this new cohort making the transition from university into the offices of a large bank, I reflected on Dr Longstaff’s article and how I might put such a change into effect.
“I thought about taking him up on his recommendations to text all my friends and passionately beseech them to meet me at the local pub where we could start planning the future of our industry with the fire of revolution driving us on through the night!
“But then I started to think about what we would actually talk about…what could we bring to the issue of fixing the problems in the banking and finance industry that others with far more experience could not? Would hours spent debating Kierkegaard v Kant in the pub make all the difference when the time came to make a hard decision?
“Ethics is about making the right choice. But it’s not only about the big decisions, it’s also about the small ones we make every-day.
“The problems that led to the fee-for-no-service issues in the banking industry were largely caused by poor internal systems.
“A hodge-podge of legacy IT, cloud products and an ocean of excel spreadsheets. They were caused because every day, in the offices of every major bank, people made the decision to adapt their work to suit the systems instead of the other way around.
“When a customer walked into a branch and complained about being charged a fee that they shouldn’t have, the teller would refund the fee and that was that.
“It was just the way things worked. This is where us youngsters can make a difference. The important thing is not that we’re smarter or more morally righteous because we’re young. What’s important is that we have fresh eyes. We’re new to the industry and the practices in it.
“The vision of the BFO is “a banking and finance industry that meets the community’s needs and has its full confidence…”. If we combine our fresh perspective on things with a determination to explore the root causes of any issues that may pop up during our time, we’ll be able to shape the businesses we work in to align with this vision.
“For us, it’s not the big decisions that will challenge our ethics, it’s the everyday grind of streamlining processes and questioning odd results. This might not be as exciting as Dr Longstaff’s suggestions of a ‘guerilla campaign’ but in my opinion, it’s what will make all the difference in the long run. And besides…a cold beer always tastes better after a day of hard work.”
