The Congregational Church of Samoa may set up a bank to counter the excessive interest rates and fees imposed by commercial banks operating in the country.
Church general secretary Rev. Iutisone Salevao said the bank idea would include setting up a corporate plan operating under the development arm of the church. He said its operations would be fully accountable to the church and its management would be hired on skills and qualifications.
Based on a feasibility study conducted last year, Rev. Salevao said there were other issues to consider. One was concerning ‘moral assets’ that if a church member defaults on a secured loan where freehold property is taken by the bank as collateral, then the church has a legal right to move in. “But will the church be in a position to enforce the rights against his or her land?”
The other concern was whether the government was going to issue the church the license to operate a bank since there’s already a huge presence of foreign owned bank in Samoa. “So we have to consider if setting up another bank is in the best economic interest for Samoa.”
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