Persons can open accounts online from today at 4 local banks

– GBTI, DBL, Republic Bank, Scotiabank first to offer feature

Starting today, persons will be able to open bank accounts online at four major local commercial banks.
This feature will be available at the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI), Demerara Bank Limited (DBL), Republic Bank Guyana Limited, and Scotiabank.
Other local banks are expected to introduce similar mechanisms next year.
Senior Minister with Responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, made the announcement of this new online feature at an event on Thursday evening. He disclosed that the Governor of the Bank of Guyana (BoG), Dr Gobind Ganga, recently issued the guidelines to further simplify the arrangements for opening bank accounts locally.
“I’m delighted to say on behalf of the banking industry that as of November 1, four commercial banks in Guyana will have the technology in place for you to be able to open a bank account without stepping foot in the bank,” Dr Singh stated on Thursday.
Over the years, the Guyana Government has been collaborating with local banks to modernise operations, expand access, and align Guyana’s financial system with its growing global stature.
In an invited comment, the governor of the Central Bank expressed that this is a significant development in the local banking sector.
“This is part of our effort to ensure there is financial inclusion…[and] to make it easier for people to get into the banking system. Once they are able to do that, then they’ll be able to uplift themselves and have access to financial services like loans, deposits or whatever else they would need… and make it more efficient for them to transact business and [allows for] the ease of transacting business,” Dr Ganga told the Guyana Times.
Previously, President Dr Irfaan Ali had revealed that the Government will implement measures to encourage more citizens to open bank accounts, noting that “we have to be able in the shortest time frame to ensure every Guyanese has a bank account”.
Moreover, the Head of State had also announced, in the past, plans to amend the Financial Institutions Act to improve the overall banking sector in Guyana.
In fact, in keeping with the Government’s push towards digital transformation, the Head of State had engaged stakeholders from the financial sector back in September to discuss modernising the local banking industry.
According to a brief statement from his office, “…Discussions focused on modernising the banking sector to address ongoing concerns faced by citizens and on plans to ensure commercial banks keep pace with the Government in implementing digital transformation.”
During a subsequent meeting on September 30, President Ali announced a slew of measures aimed at strengthening Guyana’s financial system, with a specific focus on financial and banking services and the foreign currency market.
The Head of State outlined nine key measures to guide commercial banks in maintaining the stability of Guyana’s financial sector. The implementation of these nine Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) is designed to tighten foreign exchange controls, improve transparency, and prevent abuse of the system, especially in the context of rising demand and capital flight.
At that meeting, the representatives of the various local commercial banks expressed their support for these measures, which they acknowledged will ease some of the difficulties they currently face, especially as it relates to foreign currency transactions.