Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited has added a new product to its line of services, the ‘Republic VISA One Card’ which according to the bank, will allow customers access to their accounts from anywhere in the world where VISA is accepted, including on-line merchants.
Speaking at the launching of the product yesterday at the Savannah Suite of the Pegasus Hotel, the bank’s Managing Director, Edwin Gooding, said that the local branch of the bank is the first to launch the new product, which will be inaugurated within the other group branches in due course.
He told those gathered that the introduction of the product allows card holders to become part of the world’s largest retail payments system –VISA – with access to over 27 million outlets, including Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and merchants, in over 150 countries. He said the new product offers a whole new world for the future of banking in Guyana, noting that the bank’s ability to chart this course, “aligns with the Republic Bank vision to be the bank of choice” for customers.
Gooding said that within the next few months, the technology platform, Point of Sales and ATM infrastructure that are now in place to support the new product will give Republic Bank the capability to develop and quickly introduce a wider range of related card products to meet customers’ specific needs and preferences. He said the product will go a long way in reducing risks associated with carrying around large sums of money in local or foreign currency to make payments within Guyana and beyond these shores.
Finance Minister Ashni Singh, addressing the gathering, said that the introduction of the product by Republic Bank is a major innovation for Guyana’s financial sector, noting that Republic Bank is among those entities at the forefront of developing the financial sector. He recounted that in the years gone by the number of persons locally who could have afforded access to international plastic cards was very small. Singh said that he was elated when he was informed by Republic Bank that almost 75% of the bank’s card holders have active accounts with the bank.
Singh cautioned that the launching of the new product must not be seen as merely the launch of a new product but rather, the provision to ordinary Guyanese of a facility which they did not have access to. He urged customers, especially householders and business persons, to make use of the services offered by banking facilities, noting that persons need to move away from the culture of making cash transactions and upgrade to the use of plastic. He said the financial sector is seeing a lot of development, noting that the establishment of banking facilities at Diamond, on the East Bank of Demerara is testimony to this.
The Republic VISA One card will be available to existing customers of Republic Bank free of cost over the next six months while new customers will have to pay a $600 fee to obtain the card. The product will enable customers to make transactions relating to internet shopping and vacation spending among other services. The card is accepted at any of the bank’s Point-of-Sales facilities and has a five-year life span, renewable at the expiry date. Customers will be able to conduct transactions to a daily maximum of $200,000 with withdrawals costing $30 per transaction (US$1 internationally), $25 per bill payment while Point-of-Sales Services and enquiries will be free of charge.