Some Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited customers are once again speaking out about the deduction of significant sums of money from their accounts and unsatisfactory explanations from the bank.
In recent years Republic Bank has been grappling with operational issues, including unauthorised deductions from accounts for alleged online transactions, and money being mysteriously credited to accounts, all of which have prompted customers to complain. Up to February, the bank was faced with numerous objections by customers over deductions after it announced that transactions done between last November and December were being belatedly processed. It was also forced to reimburse customers last year due to fraudulent activities on its VISA debit cards.
Customer Service Specialist Raynol Narine, speaking on behalf of the bank, yesterday told this newspaper that customers should contact their respective bank branch and give the bank the opportunity to investigate the matter and any particular issues. As for persons who have complained and received no sort of explanation for their losses, he said that “any person having these types of issues should make contact with the bank and have the matters investigated.”
One of the bank’s customers who has not been satisfied with the explanation given to her told Stabroek News that she had deposited $100,000 in her account at the end of March and had withdrawn a total of $40,000 afterward. “The withdrawal was [sometime] in April. Then I noticed my balance was short of $60,000 so the first time I say probably it’s a miscalculation. The second time [noticing the missing money] was a Saturday. After I see the $60,000 is still missing I decide to go into the bank on the following Monday,” the woman, who asked to be identified as Devi, said.
She explained that she went to the branch she usually uses in Vreed-en-Hoop. “They told me that I did the transaction at the branch at Robb and Camp streets. [So] I had to go back there. Anyways I went there, spoke to the staff and the supervisor and they then explained that I made a deposit in November. A deposit of $20,000 and their machine had issues which [resulted in] it triple my account,” Devi related. She said that their explanation did not make sense to her and that the person she spoke with even told her that persons were also complaining about having the same problems.
Devi said she was told that an investigation could be done but the bank would not be able to do much more. “They said if I want they can investigate. I said yes and they told me the IT guy will be here in a short while to help me. He came, collected my full name and left for half hour, then came back telling me that they had issues with the machine and how he run all the envelopes and it showed only one… so I told him I do not understand what is this because how only now the machine notifies you that I get extra money. Mind you I did not get any money extra in my account as of last year and so far from this year. He then said if I want to go further I will have to leave my number and he will call later because he’s going to run the camera and I said okay and I leave,” she recalled.
The very same afternoon she was contacted by the bank worker and was told that the camera showed her visiting one of the machines and attempting to conduct the transaction twice before going to another machine because the first one was not processing the transaction. She said that the man told her that she got through with the transaction at the last machine “but the machine credited my account with $20,000 three times” and that they had to deduct the money from her account as a result.
She said that she continued to question these claims but was told that “if I’m not comfortable with his explanation I can make a report to the station and take the police into the bank and only if the bank releases the footage then I will get to see”.
Devi said that after being told this, she hung up on the worker. She said that she berated herself for not asking for a name before hanging up. “I got so angry and cut the phone off because in these hard times they will take $60,000 out [of] my account with the most ridiculous explanations,” she lamented.
Devi said that she did not bother going to the police. Instead, she decided that she would no longer conduct business with the bank.
