Republic Bank’s ATM system to be closed next weekend

…as upgrade gets underway

Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited (RBL) has advised that its Automated Teller Machine (ATM) will be closed from Thursday afternoon to Sunday next week.
The commercial bank advised that all ATM outlets across the country would be closed and point-of-sales services would be unavailable from October 31 at 14:00h to November 3 at 16:00h.

During this period, Internet banking and online transactions will also be unavailable.
The Bank also informed that it would be closed on Friday, November 1. Its branches will be closed at 12:00h from Thursday, October 31. On Wednesday, October 30, branches will be closed at 15:00h. Normal opening hours will resume on Monday, November 4.
According to Republic, these changes are to facilitate a migration of its banking system to a newer one and to enhance customers’ banking experience.
Republic Bank Guyana Limited has revealed that its profit before taxation for the year 2018 was a staggering $4.664 billion, and its net income for that same year was a whopping $3.134 billion. This is an increase of 14.4 per cent over the $2.738 billion the Bank had earned in 2017.
In the Director’s Report, RBL Managing Director Richard Sammy said normal banking operations accounted for $2.951 billion. He attributed these increased earnings to the sale of the Bank’s fixed assets.
Earlier this year, Republic Bank had had to contend with customers complaining of millions of dollars going missing from their accounts. Some customers even took to social media to call the Bank out over the discrepancies.
In May, RBL publicly confirmed that the monies were indeed missing, after previously denying knowledge of the reports. After several customers had reached out to <<<Guyana Times>>> about their missing money, a call to the Bank by this publication was met with denial by one of its managers.
Last November, Republic Bank had announced that it was seeking to acquire Scotiabank’s operations in St Maarten, Guyana, Anguilla, St Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Dominica, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Guyana’s Central Bank Governor Dr Gobind Ganga told this newspaper last month that the application was denied in light of concerns about “concentration” and “competition” which would have negative impacts on the country’s financial system.