The Bankers Association of Saint Lucia has confirmed that adjustments will be made to the
banking services available to the public in keeping with the Hon. Prime Minister Allen Chastanet’s announcement of a partial scale down of all non-essential economic and social services from Monday, March 23, 2020 to Sunday, April 5, 2020. The following measures are in keeping with the implementation of the Heightened Protocol and Social Distancing Regime as part of a national response to the COVID-19 pandemic:
Adjusted Services
During the period of the partial scale down, financial institutions will facilitate the following
the services:
– Over the counter teller services for personal and business customers from Monday to
Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
– Special assigned hours for elderly from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 am and the general
public from 9:00a.m. to 12:00 pm.
– Full ATM service including ATM deposits
-Processing of urgent temporary credit facilities
– Night depository services
– Online wire transfers and online payroll service
– Sign-ups for online banking service
– Debit card and credit card replacements
– Processing and clearing of cheques
General lending services and opening of new accounts will not be available during the partial
scale down to allow staff to attend to urgent and critical requests.
Heightened Protocol and Social Distancing Regime
The association’s members are also committed to enforcing the principle of “social distancing” and will limit the number of customers in their banking halls of to a maximum of 20 customers for large branches and 10 customers for smaller branches. Customers waiting outside of banks will be encouraged to maintain a distance of at least 3 feet from each other to limit exposure to the virus.
Additionally, only staff who are critical to the banking services listed above will be asked to report to work during the partial scale down period and others with remote access who are
not required to be in-branch will be asked to work from home.
Essential Service Professionals
During the period of the partial scale down, special consideration will also be paid to persons employed in essential services such as the medical and healthcare professions and law enforcement to limit the amount of time spent in the banks and to allow them to quickly return to their critical functions.
The Association stressed the customers also have an important role to play in ensuring that the partial scale down is executed smoothly and with minimal risk to the banking community. As Saint Lucia’s financial institutions work together to maintain access to critical banking functions, customers are strongly encouraged to delay all non-essential banking requests until normal banking functions resume.
Customers are also asked to minimize the frequency of their branch visits where possible by availing of alternative banking channels such as mobile and online banking and utilizing emails and telephone to contact the bank where possible. Finally, while the scaled down operations are intended to safeguard the health and wellbeing of staff and customers in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Nation’s financial
institutions are also working out the finer details of a moratorium on various installment payments and fees to protect the financial wellbeing of their clientele and to ease the financial burden many are expected to experience at this time. The Association advised that customers can expect an update on the details of these measures from their respective financial institutions.
As organisations, communities and individuals around the world unite in a concerted effort to fight the spread of COVID-19, financial institutions are committed to playing an active role in supporting the economy and the citizens of Saint Lucia throughout this period of uncertainty and remain optimistic that we will overcome this difficult period together.
- 1st National Bank St. Lucia Limited
- Bank of Saint Lucia Limited
- Capita Financial Services Inc.
- CIBC FirstCaribbean International
- Financial Investment And Consultancy Services Limited
- First Citizens Investment Services Limited.
- RBC Royal Bank
- Republic Bank EC Limited
- Sagicor Finance Inc.
- St. Lucia Development Bank
- St. Lucia Mortgage & Finance Company Limited
