Dear Editor,
It’s with much annoyance and frustration I pen this letter. The archaic banking system in Guyana has again caused tremendous inconvenience to my busy life.
My most recent encounter with a local bank has resulted in me being blocked from accessing my money because of a blunder made by staff in the bank. My account was blocked because a mail which was dispatched to my purported address was returned to the bank. The reason the mail was returned is because the address was incorrect. I live on the East Bank of Demerara but the mail was addressed to the East Coast of Demerara. I was required to take in a proof of address to get the situation rectified.
However, the last mail I received from the bank (my only source of proof of address, as I still live with my parents and all mail are in my father’s name) was addressed to the ECD as well.
I never picked up on this error because the mail were still delivered to my EBD home despite being addressed to the ECD.
So I visited the bank with that mail and outlined the situation to the employee in the card centre. She informed me that I needed a mail in my name in order to unblock the account. I informed her that I do not receive mail in my name outside of those from the bank. Nonetheless, I offered her my driver’s licence, which is usually accepted as proof of address at other institutions.
The employee informed me that my driver’s licence will not work. My father is not within the district, and therefore cannot go down with me to verify that his proof of address is also mine. I will now have to resort to sending myself? a letter, which will take approximately one week to be delivered.
In the meantime, my account will be blocked and I will be temporarily banned from accessing my money — all because of a problem that originated within the bank.
Sincerely,
Devina Samaroo
