Say good bye to the Bank of Nova Scotia St. Kitts and Nevis and welcome the Trinidad and Tobago-based Republic Bank.
The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) in September approved the sale of Scotia bank’s assets in the ECCU territories to Republic Financial Holding Limited (RFHL)
Effective Friday, November 1, Scotia Bank’s operations ceased in Anguilla, Dominica, Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Lucia and St Kitts and Nevis, and Republic Bank’s operations commenced. The Government of Antigua and Barbuda has so far blocked the sale of Scotia Bank there.
The RFHL operations in St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia, Dominica and St Vincent and the Grenadines will be under the purview of Republic Bank (EC) Limited, a St Lucia based subsidiary.
Prior to the rebranding and official start of Republic Bank’s operations in St. Kitts, the bank informed Scotia bank’s customers that their products and services will be transferred to Republic Bank without any action required on the part of the customers. Mobile banking users will be prompted to download the Republic Bank app and online banking customers will be able to access their accounts via Republic Bank’s website using the same log in and password they used for Scotia Bank online.
As part of the agreement, employees were given the opportunity to transfer to Republic Bank, the terms of that arrangement however were not made public.
David Parks, Vice-President & Managing Director Eastern Caribbean at Scotiabank said in a message to customers that Scotiabank was confident its customer base would benefit from Republic bank’s long history of customer service and their well established presence in the Caribbean.
The ECCB, which regulates the banking system in the ECCU, says it believes “that the Republic Bank’s corporate banking record and its extensive network of correspondent banks will bode well for the ECCU.