Republic Bank opens East Coast branch- President calls for expansion of services to remote communities

Republic Bank customers on the East Coast of Demerara are no longer required travel to the city to transact their business as the financial institution. On Sunday afternoon (January 15) the Bank opened its latest location at Triumph, Agriculture Road, East Coast Demerara (E.C.D).

Expressing confidence in the economic prospects in Guyana, Republic Bank limited revealed that the facility is its second largest location which costs $1.5B.

According to Chairman of the Bank’s Board of Directors, Nigel Baptiste, the facility will be hosting a total of 32 staff led by Officer in Charge, Bibi Shaliza Seepersaud.

“Our vision for expansion and accompanying strategies are strongly aligned with trends shaping the local, regional and global economies. Of not among local developments are increased opportunities for home ownership, expanding small and medium businesses, growing confidence in Guyana’s economic prospects and by and large, customers with sophisticated banking needs and high expectations” Baptiste said.

Delivering the feature address at Sunday’s event, President David Granger who recently became Chairman of Caricom, noted that expanding financial institutions are beneficial to building strong regional economies.

The Head of State lauded the bank for its continuing expansion noting that wider dispersion of economic services will contribute to the overall development of the local economy.

He also called on the banking sector to look at ways to improve banking in remote areas including mobile banking. He said “Commercial banks are encouraged to find innovative means and instruments of expanding their services to hinterland communities. The lack of banking services to un-served areas presents a serious constraint to income generation activities. It is also a factor which limits economic development of those regions.”

According to Managing Director of Republic Bank Ltd., Richard Sammy, the branch was built to meet the increasing demands of residents on the East Coast and meet the Bank’s strategic plan to serve communities across the country.

Republic Bank has been in Guyana since 1836 with the British Guiana Bank. After changing many owners including at one time, the Government of Guyana, it was branded Republic Bank on June 5, 2006.

The construction of the building commenced on August 03, 2015 and was completed on November 17, 2016. It began serving the community on December 19, 2016 but was officially opened today.

President Granger today outlined that there is a total of 41 commercial banking locations in Guyana with 12 belonging to Republic Bank.