Scotiabank discloses plans for Old Harbour after closure

The island’s second largest commercial bank last month announced plans to permanently close its Old Harbour and Black River branches to better align its organizational structure with current revenues as majority of is customers are banking digitally.

Its decision has been met with great consternation by some customers, who have been with the specified branches for decades. Some are even vowing to take their business to other banks.

Affected customers have been advised to utilise May Pen and Spanish Town branches to do any in-branch transactions when the branch closes its doors in April of next year.

With the pending closure the Canadian-based company stated that it has already begun training small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) and personal account holders how to navigate the new way of digital banking.

Scotiabank District Vice President Yvette Anderson, who has responsibility for Old Harbour, said at its south west St Catherine location they have commenced training of seniors and other individuals with a special help desk setup to facilitate the transformation. A cluster of personal bankers assigned to the area will be charged with helping businesses grow, revealed President and CEO David Noel, who also indicated that they are vigorously seeking locations to establish more automated banking machines (ABMs) throughout the town centre.

Social activist Randy Finnikin said while he embraces the technological advancement in banking, he’s uncomfortable with the idea of sending customers to do business at two of the most violent-prone parish capitals in the country. “We are a safer community than Spanish Town and May Pen. You have successfully put us in harm’s way to go over to two of the most violent places in Jamaica. This strategic shift has it (the bank) considered our risk,” Finnikin said during a recent virtual meeting with the Old Harbour Chamber of Commerce (OHCC) and senior executives of Scotiabank led by Noel.

Citing data that significantly more than 60 percent are doing banking online Noel said: “We need to move away from people having to go to a branch to make a request for something. As business people really and truly you should have bankers that can come to you or provide you service to access service digitally.”

Audrey Tugwell-Henry, executive vice president, retail banking, added: “As a country we cannot lag behind the rest of the world in terms of this new age of digital technology.

“We have a full plan as to how we will continue to serve the community, so I’m pretty confident that it will work.”

Former president of the OHCC Adrian Samuda is of the view that Scotiabank is making a decision it will regret.

“We are people on the ground. We are telling you that the strategy… will not be feasible for businesses and it will not work out for your company,” Samuda contends, pointing to obvious challenges such as an individual wanting to open a regular account and the need for more full-service ABMs, and for small business operators who make multiple deposits each day.

Supporting Samuda’s point is Errol Lewin, managing director, Jamaica Bedding. Lewin said: “This digital system is going to take away what I call the intimacy from banking.

Banking is all about relationship. People will drive pass three BNS to go to the BNS where they are most comfortable. So when you remove that relationship I can tell you the amount of banking is going to decline significantly.”

While consideration will be given to a number of suggestions proffered by the local business group, Noel opined that digital banking literacy is crucial for the country to develop a robust and competitive economy within the global sphere.

“I don’t think it is beyond us as Jamaicans to be first world,” he said. “Some of our numbers we’re seeing in customers doing digital transaction are on par with what we are seeing in the US and Canada already. I believe if we provide the education, provide the tools, our people will use it and embrace it.”

Recently appointed president of the OHCC Treacha Reid-McCalla, said while she too share some of challenges in anticipating the dramatic change on the horizon, ultimately it’s a change they will all have to adapt to.

“I will now have to help my clients embrace digital banking because clearly we (businesses) are going digital and it is something that we have to embrace,” said Reid-McCalla, CEO of Shades of Elegance.

And given the rapid population growth of the town, Samuda is also contending that transforming the location into a digital branch would be a better option.