Republic Bank hopes to fix problems by mid-December; apologises for customer delays

Last Updated on Thursday, 28 November 2019, 17:18 by Writer

Republic Bank Guyana on Thursday apologised for prolonged delays being experienced by customers, saying an upgrade did not go according to plan and that it expects to fix all problems by mid-December.

Following is a full statement from Republic Bank.

“On November 4, 2019 the Bank completed the conversion to its new banking systems which involved the conversion of over 15 banking applications/systems including the core banking platform, the wire transfer solution, the internet banking solution, debit and credit card issuing solution as well as the launch of a new mobile banking platform and new credit card acquiring capability. While the Bank, with the assistance of its Parent in Trinidad and Tobago and numerous international consultants, employed the most intense and updated systems integration and user acceptance testing, several challenges have been experienced since the conversion. We would like to unequivocally apologize to our valued clients for the challenges experienced and thank you for your extreme patience.

Among the challenges encountered are difficulty in accessing services through our new internet banking and mobile banking services, delays in processing of payrolls and wire transfers as well as lengthy delays in completion of some transactions in branch, inconsistencies with respect to the use of our various other electronic services such as our ATMs and POS services and the need for most of our existing online banking clients to re-establish their various utility payment instructions. Notwithstanding these challenges, we would like to assure clients that there have been no challenges with respect to the integrity of our data or the security of our new IT systems. Both the data and system infrastructure have been designed to satisfy the latest international standards re data protection and cyber security.

While many of these challenges were unexpected, we were aware that the conversion exercise was very complex.

We would like to assure our clients that we are gradually resolving the challenges and we expect to have the issues fully resolved by the middle of December 2019. In the meantime, we are putting various additional measures in place to make it easier for clients to access both the information and the people needed to resolve any individual concerns. When fully resolved, we are confident that clients will enjoy their new banking experience which some may already have noticed affords greater convenience and flexibility.

Republic Bank would like to once again apologize to our clients and thank all of those who continue to put their faith in the organization. We assure all of you that such faith is not misplaced, and we shortly expect to be able to provide you with the promised improved service as a result of the total conversion exercise that we have undertaken.