CIBC FIRSTCARIBBEAN International Bank is reporting growth in its operations, and preparing to offer increased services to its clients.
This intention was announced by the bank’s managing director, retail, business and international banking, Mark St Hill.
He said FirstCaribbean was concentrating on the continuous development and expansion of its retail, wealth and business banking services through innovations and investment in its infrastructure, processes and staff.
St Hill said the business banking segment was recording encouraging growth partly as a result of the increase in entrepreneurial activity around the region.
After listening to its business banking clients and finding out what their needs and challenges were, he explained, the bank “created a number of products and services such as the Bizline Visa Business Credit Card and the Merchant Services Overdraft and we’ve developed some tools and provided assistance in helping our clients present their applications for financing – in other words, we have positioned ourselves as being more of a financial advisor for our clients”.
“We’ve up-skilled ourselves to [better] interpret the information received from clients when they complete the business planning guide we recently created – and by extension we are able to advise them better,” he said.
St Hill also reported growth in the platinum banking segment. He said markets, including Barbados, the Cayman Islands and Bahamas, had seen sales increase by more than 50 per cent, while Antigua and other places were also showing encouraging signs.
As for retail banking, the seasoned banker said using its regional network of mortgage and loan centres, and “specialised staff”, FirstCaribbean was also looking to grow this category.
“We know that the way we grow our businesses, increase our wealth, educate our families and improve our lifestyles is through access to credit. To meet this need we’ve developed an approach that is relationship centred so that we’re here for our clients when they need us,” he explained.
With regard to the processes and technology supporting the bank’s ability to facilitate its clients’ credit needs, St Hill noted that during the last year a new risk management credit system was implemented.
“The continuous investment we are making is preparing us for the future of banking, so while we’ve invested in new infrastructure we’ve also decommissioned old infrastructure because we have to take a commercial view of how we position ourselves. The vision is to have a model that is sustainable, and that will continue to please our clients and shareholders – that’s where we are going,” he said. (SC/PR)