- Contributed
The Inner City Marching Band heralding the official opening of the NCB Yallahs branch last Friday.
Susan Smith, Staff Reporter
NATIONAL COMMERCIAL Bank has taken the vision of creating wealth to Yallahs. On Friday, it opened its newest branch in the busy St. Thomas town.
Group chairman of AIC and NCB, Michael Lee Chin, Custos of St. Thomas, Marcia Bennett, and NCB's managing director, Aubyn Hill, were present to witness the memorable occasion, do the cutting of the ribbons and also to encourage citizens to bank with NCB.
"NCB is one of the strongest financial institution with an asset base of $16.7 billion," said Mr. Hill.
Located on the Yallahs main road, the managers believe the point is ideal for business and guarantees a strong customer base because Yallahs is the fastest growing town in St. Thomas.
"We expect many customers to be doing business here instead of making the trek to Morant Bay or Kingston," says Courtney Campbell, senior assistant general manager of the Retail Banking Division. Yallahs NCB will house a small staff of six persons headed by Cheryl Foster and is expected to alleviate the difficulties customers face in travelling, especially when the Yallahs Fording is flooded and make banking more convenient. "There are many customers who live in the environs of Yallahs who are banking either with our branch in Morant Bay or a branch in Kingston so this branch will be much more convenient for them," Mr. Campbell pointed out. Noting that many transactions are operated by electronic means, NCB does not see the small structure detracting from the quality of customer service provided. According to Mr. Campbell it is an "inexpensive branch in a small town but enough to serve the people well." When asked by Sunday Business if NCB is counting largely on the transfer customers to do business with the bank, Mr. Campbell displayed confidence that the clientele would increase.
NEW BUSINESS
"We expect a whole lot of new business from Yallahs and the surrounding communities because we are the first commercial bank. Our current customers don't even have to transfer accounts," he said. Mr. Campbell expects NCB to attract good business especially in the area of remittance. "We are expecting good remittance business. We are able to offer the facility of putting the funds on an account. People can actually save instead of spending all at once."
Branch manager Ms. Foster also expresses optimism for business in Yallahs. "We have had nearly 200 accounts opened and we have given out subscriptions for over a hundred more and we know within the next couple of days we will be going very well," she said.
NCB promises every new customer a small token according to Miss Foster. Mr. Lee Chin encouraged all to maintain the strong banking relationship NCB has shared with Jamaica over the years.
