Page 189 - A Banker Down the Rabbit Hole

our above customer increased further. In about six months from there,
he stopped making any payment. All the export bills drawn on this single
buyer became overdue. We wrote to the customer and his buyer both
again. After waiting for a couple of months and not getting payment from
the buyer or the seller (our customer), we recovered the full amount of
all the bills discounted with interest from the Fixed Deposit of the
customer under advice to him. We also cancelled the line of credit for
this customer.

After about a month, he sent bills for discount on some other buyer that
we declined to discount. He asked us why the credit line was cancelled
without consulting him. We informed him that due to non-payment and
non-response from his side for long time, we were compelled to cancel
the credit lines.

He requested us to restore the limits as he had many bills on another
buyer. He told that his lone buyer in New Zealand had declared
bankruptcy. He had suffered huge losses, hence bank should help him
restart his business without insisting on the kind of deposit we had taken
last time as security. We told him that it could not be an automatic revival
of cancelled credit limits and he would have to apply for the credit lines
afresh for proper appraisal by the bank and that it would take some time.

Insights from the episode

1. It is always the right thing to follow one's duty even if the situation
and people around you may get difficult.
2. Customer work for their interest and we work for the interest of our
organization who pays us for our reasonable survival commensurate
with our contribution. We need a delicate balancing act.
3. "If something is important enough, even if the odds are against you,
you should still do it." - Elon Musk

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