Local bank accused of unfair practices
A local bank has been accused of unfair practices after a customer alleged that thousands of dollars in delayed charges were deducted from their account.
A disgruntled customer shared their experience on social media, alleging that Republic Bank BVI pulled nearly $2,300 from their account in “delayed” charges for transactions dating back two years.
“There were no pending transactions and only an email was sent on Saturday mid-morning that the charges were going to come out Monday,” the customer alleged on Facebook.
The customer also claimed they received no warning about these charges and that attempts to contact the bank to resolve the issue were unsuccessful. Other customers responding to the social media post claimed similar experiences.
The customer also argued that just as customers are restricted to a 90-day period to report and dispute fraudulent transactions, banks should also be bound by time limits to address their transactional errors. “How is this our fault?” the customer asked. “If I held onto a cheque for more than six months, I can’t cash it.”
According to the customer, a manager at the bank was contacted about the issue, however, he reportedly provided little more than a reiteration of the bank’s appreciation for their relationship and some account statements. The customer said the statements showed they were never previously charged for the transactions.
“What if I was travelling with my nine-month-old and my other two kids and that was the only money we had and we needed a hotel?” they asked.
The customer advised other bank customers to check their emails and accounts and claimed that a friend also suffered a similar experience.
Similar issues have been shared about local banks where lawmakers voiced their concerns about the need for improved oversight and accountability for financial institutions operating in the territory.
Deputy Premier Lorna Smith previously shared concerns about customers at local banks who were left to wait in long lines and were exposed to bad weather.
“In terms of the banks’ customer service, it still leaves a lot to be desired, notwithstanding that, I do speak to them and we have these discussions and they assure me of improvements,” the Deputy Premier said.
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Similar experience. Less money but about 7 months after the transactions were incurred and no warning.
hey BVI, and Our Dear Premier and Minister of Finance and Deputy Premier
Please for God sake, Look into this matter with urgency. If you thing wht happened to this customer i bad, at least she got a notification, granted it was just days before the act. But thing of this from the same bank, you get no notification, check you BANK balance notice you missing some funds, when you inquire, they going to tell you sorry for not notifying you in advance, but we had to renew your mortgage, this is now the new interest rate and the new monthly payment. What?? new interest rate and new payment because we renew your mortgage Since when is mortgage being renewed? you have a 30-year Loan, why is it not renewed to lower the payment after paying with interest for all these years? Mr. Premier and Madam Deputy, please for the BVI. there was a time when banks wanted yoou to refinance and foolish as you were, you take their sweet talk, refinance, and then your loan starts all over again, now they cannot fool people to refinance they now talking about renew, you get no new money. what is that renew about? are we still in a democratic country, were the customer has rights, or are we in a Republic or Communist country and have no right, That a bank because it is republic do what they want with your business?
This happened to me as well at the same bank. The management there has no respect for the customers. I all of a sudden notice that my mortgaged increased by over $300, and when I enquired I was told that my interest rate increased. Where on God’s earth things like this happens besides the BVI where supposedly professional firms do not extend the curtesy of notifying its valued customers of important changes like this. It is rather difficult for people to find an extra $300+ dollars these days, and to receive no warning is utter disrespectful. The attitude is like I have the handle and you have the blade.
Lawmakers are an effing waste of time they make the laws and go on like their hands are tied. When running their campaign they need to stop taking campaign contributions from these people allegedly so when elected they can look after the people’s interest with a clear conscience and hand.
since when does a Morgage expires and needs renewal? If you have a 30 year Mortgage when is the expiry date Should it not be at the end of 30 year?
How can you , the Bank on its own, with no consultation with the customer, determine the expiry date 12 years ahead of maturity and decide to renew, renew something that has not expiree or matured.
If this is allowed, then 5 years down he road they can repeat the same thing , and another five years.
Can II say I do need any renewal just close my loan forthwith? well im sayin now, if the loan expired and nee renewal, please do not renew. I will take it in the expired state. no need to renew.
Service Charges for a complete lack of customer service…
Can’t say the banks are not innovative in their efforts to separate us from our money.
The Hon. Deputy Premier is spot on:
““In terms of the banks’ customer service, it still leaves a lot to be desired, notwithstanding that, I do speak to them and we have these discussions and they assure me of improvements,” the Deputy Premier said.”
You made a purchase and the transaction was not debited from your account.
Was the business place contacted at any point or even the bank informing them you did not see the charge?
If the transaction was not charged you owe for the transaction.
that is not the charges they are refering to.
They have sold products or services to people and got the money from the people , the bank neglected to take either the 3%+ for the POS system or the monthly charge.
So yes the people complaing knew they weren’t paying any fees and did not inform the bank but now want to cry about it.
It is in many cases where a product or service was purchased and the consumer not charged. Check the various complaints. Not fees but an actual purchase.
Check your credit card and instead of transactions, check for “Pending Transactions” usually they are processed same day or monday over the weekend. I have 2 pending transactions since 2023, I suspect these will eventually be processed in this cleanup.
This is the issue with the bank. In the US banks do not let pending transactions pass 5 days. Republic Bank is not a proper bank. Cancelled both my accounts with them. They are a liability.
This article needs to be revisited with a lot more detail. This is not just a local bank issue this is across the Caribbean where all the island have been effected. The bank has had many issues with fraud on cards, even not in the possession of the account holder. Missing deposites from Business credit cards machines. Delayed wire transfers. The limits an the cards are laughable. Having to secure your own funds to increase limits on the cards. (this is not the normal Banking practice) Given bank issues checks they decline them when presented to the bank as not in use any more. Putting wrong account numbers on checks so the money comes out of other peoples acconts. (this was a bank fault and they would not contact the person to sort out they had to wait for the customer to come to them and report it)
Agressive banking services where you are forced to use expensive wire transactions instead of cards. This cost me 10K this year. Signing contracts for new cards and AA mile programs and they cap the miles which is not in the contract anywhere. Not even the small print. The list goes on and on. The FSC does nothing to hold the bank accountable.
In Anguilla they are offering interest free loans. Peoples accounts have been emptied overnight from bills dating back to 2022 and 2023. I was given a returned check from a customer in the bank from 2022 last week when I went into the bank.
All we can hear from the FSC is Crickets.
But Republic bank has just posted this quarted they made 1BN in proffits.
Please follow up and dig deeper on the banking issues with Republic bank. The customers are not getting any satisfaction.
As they Say Money Talks. But Money also Walks
This is the worse bamk. I cancelled my credit card and line of credit. Now I am trying to move my mortgage. I hate dealing with them. They will dry your account taking out all kinds if fees snd charges and you can”t get any one at the bank to explain to you in a way that you can understand. I moving on from Republic Bank before they drive me crazy. The agency that oversees the banking institutions need to check Republic Bank consumer practices. In fact they need to just get out of Tortola.
I had a several experience of them doing that to me. They always pulling your money, with no warning.
These banks does do us a lot of Sh_t.
It always was and still is the Wild West where they can act as they please with no consequences to be feared…..
And they tell you all sorts of nonsense about the New York Prime Rate. I know for a fact that this rate also decreases. Why is there no effect then?
in this BVI banking system is that the locals suffer while the ex pats enjoy banking in other countries because they are still citizens living ‘overseas’.
Jackass
It is still not clear if these are delayed transactions or double charges. There is claim that the bank was notified as early as 2022 that money was being taken from a account however the transactions were not showing on statements and that now, two years later the transactions have now appeared, been back dated, and the money taken again from the account -this needs to be investigated by an external body!
I want to know why it took 11 days to clear check. I had to ring the bank to ask why the check had not even appeared as pending on my account. It took until the 3rd day from putting it in the dropbox to appear and that was only after I rang about it.