Bank of Guyana Governor Gobind Ganga will be meeting with Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited today and he says it has to refund for all fraudulent activity on its Visa International Debit Cards.
Speaking with Stabroek News yesterday Ganga said reports of the bank only paying customers for fraudulent purchases made within three months of a report are “unacceptable”.
“That is unacceptable if there is fraud it doesn’t matter how long that fraud is dated back. Republic Bank or any bank will have to ensure that the customer receives their appropriate refund,” he said in response to questions on the issue.
Ganga explained that he understands the Bank is in a period of transition, with Managing Director Richard Sammy out of the jurisdiction on training, and is willing to work with them to improve cybersecurity while remaining customer friendly.
Customers have complained that the Bank has baulked at refunding sums which were used outside of the three-month period but according to Ganga the Bank of Guyana maintains that once it is established that a transaction was fraudulent customers will be reimbursed.
Customers have also complained that in the aftermath of the fraud it has become increasingly difficult to use the RBL Visa Debit Card for online purchases.
One customer who visited Stabroek News yesterday lamented the fact that he was forced to visit the bank after his card stopped working only to become more frustrated by what he learnt.
“I kept trying to make the purchase on different sites since the message indicated that the transaction was denied. I really thought something was wrong with the site because the Bank never indicated to me that I could no longer use my card. It wasn’t until I went into the Bank that I learned that each time I tried to conduct the transaction they were removing a $200 fee even though the transaction was denied. It’s a negligible sum but it adds up. I’m not even sure how many times I clicked,” Abdul Gafoor told this newspaper.
He bemoaned the fact that once he got into the bank and they gave him a toll free number, so he could have Trinidad activate the card for 24 hours, the number did not work.
“So I had to go back and they gave me three local numbers for the Trinidad office. This is not like calling the US which might be $10 a minute calling in the Caribbean is as much as $35 to $40 a minute and this won’t be a one minute conversation. Once you call a bank you reach an automated system which is going to have me pressing one for Guyana, two for this and three for that. Who is going to give me that money back?” he asked.
According to Gafoor the large share Republic Bank holds in Guyana’s banking sector makes it a behemoth without competition.
“A pushcart seller can’t compete with DDL and that is what Republic Bank needs; proper competition,” the former web designer indicated.
Gafoor who describes himself as a manufacturer of health and beauty products returned several hours later to explain that after $4,000 worth of calls to Trinidad he had depleted his account and he had made only one successful purchase to the tune of $12,000.
“I emptied the account except for about $60,000 to make purchases and now that’s gone too. The money was depleting but the purchases are not going through. I’m on the phone with the man and he’s saying to me the purchases are simply not registering even the $12,000 which I saw as approved he said didn’t go through,” he shared.
Ganga also described Gafoor’s experience as unacceptable.
“They are trying to put systems in place so that the level of fraud can be mitigated but that is also unacceptable that customers have to go through such a process. They have to come with better means of protecting or reducing risk. We are the regulatory authority and we supervise them and we ensure that as much as they try to protect themselves they also protect customers so at the meeting tomorrow I’ll discuss that with them,” he said.
