Dear Editor,
After all the media coverage on the fleecing of Republic Bank’s customers via the Visa Debit Cards, I decided to ascertain if my card was compromised. I was overseas the past few months and upon my return to Guyana, decided to check my debit card’s bank statements that were sent via postal mail. My worst fears were realized when I noticed suspicious transactions that I had not made appeared on my statements.
On June 12, I visited Republic Bank’s Water Street branch and was directed to a department that handled customers’ queries. The bank’s representative told me that they were only reviewing transactions that occurred within the past three months and which is part of Republic Bank’s pact with Visa International. Thus, my inquiry could not be reviewed since the time for queries had elapsed (the suspicious transactions on my statement had occurred at the beginning of this year).
This is unfair to the bank’s customers who have been unsuspecting victims to these cases of outright fraud. Whether the fraud occurred several months or years ago, the fact remains that it occurred and the bank should take responsibility and not attempt to hide behind the veneer of its agreement with Visa. This is poor customer service, at best, on the bank’s part to dismiss customers’ legitimate evidence of fraud.
The bank should assume responsibility and reimburse all affected customers. Absent of this, the government or central bank should intervene to ascertain what happened here in order to protect customers or customers should organize and file a lawsuit against the bank and Visa.
Yours faithfully,
Chontelle Sewett
