BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – FOLLOWING complaints, Republic Bank St. Kitts and Nevis has acknowledged that it is experiencing difficulty with its wire transfer services.
Local radio station WINN FM had reported that customers complained of experiencing difficulties receiving their fund transfers, with such taking up to a month in some instances.
A statement from the Bank seen by this media house confirmed that customers have been experiencing such difficulties.
In a media statement, Republic Bank’s Country Manager said: “Republic Bank (EC) has confirmed that some of its customers have experienced delays in the processing of wire transfers due to mandatory changes to the Bank’s incoming and outgoing wire transfer instructions.”
Sources explained to SKNVibes that the delays are difficult to understand in light of the fact that wire transfers should general take only three business days to complete.
One of the source noted that the difficult could be the fact that the Bank is now transferring transactions through to its Trinidad and Tobago operations, as the WINN FM report highlighted.
In its statement, the Bank said that it has been working to resolve the delays in the shortest timeframe possible.
One of the customers who complained of the issue said that on December 2, 2019, US$3,000 was wire transferred but that money was not received until January 4, 2020.
Over the last several months, Republic Bank has been receiving numerous complaints locally and throughout the region.
In Guyana, for example, media reports pointed to the financial institution changing out its software that resulted in transactions taking longer than expected.
In St. Kitts, customer complained during the switch over of the financial institution that their cards were not working properly.
The Bank however explained: “To avoid processing delays, the Bank continues to work with its customers to use the Republic Bank wire transfer instructions as listed on its website. Customers who are currently experiencing delays are encouraged to contact their branch with the relevant transaction details to ensure a quick resolution.”
