THE LOCAL HEAD of a regional bank says Barbadian customers have responded positively to technological advances in banking.
Daniel Farmer, country head of FirstCaribbean International Bank (FCIB), told BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY clients had readily embraced mobile banking and online banking.
“For mobile banking we’ve seen in Barbados quite a large pick-up in terms of our customers using it and doing transactions. We’ve actually seen that in our metrics when we look at that activity,” he said following the launch of FCIB’s Unsung Heroes Programme.
“We are looking at doing some further improvements on that product to provide additional services. We’re going through and finalising testing,” he said of the service which was launched last June.
At present, customers can check balances, make transfers between accounts and set up threshold alerts.
Farmer added that the bank was also continually adding billers to its online banking platform so clients can pay more bills without leaving their home or office.
“The other aspect from a corporate perspective is that we’ve provided more bulk wire programmes. You were able to make wire transfers both locally and internationally on our platform before, but what we’re doing is for people that make a lot of payments.
“We set up a file format that specifically meets their accounting software and that is then uploaded through the Internet banking,” he said.
He also said the introduction of the VISA debit card has been “very successful”.
Farmer noted, however, that it will take some time to determine the success of the recently launched E-cheque Card which allows employers to electronically transfer funds to employees’ debit cards.
He said this is because the bank now needs to educate corporate clients and their employees and suppliers about the product.
