BUSINESS MONDAY: FirstCaribbean sees rise in online banking

LESS clients are using the over-the-counter services of FirstCaribbean International Bank (FCIB).

Instead, the bank is now seeing a significant portion of its active base utilising the digital channels to get their business done.

Head of Retail Banking of FirstCaribbean International Bank (FCIB), Michelle Whitelaw, revealed that since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, more customers are embracing technology as a way to do their banking.

“As of February 2021, 56 per cent of our active client base is using the digital channels and 300 000 persons are using our website across the world monthly,” she told Business Monday.

“Thirty-three per cent of our clients actively perform bill payments on our website and we have seen a five per cent growth in that area; and 40 per cent of our clients transfer money online to others,” according to Whitelaw.

“So artisans and workmen can also get paid electronically through our systems and can reduce contact with other people and avoid standing in lines so often,” she said.

In fact, Whitelaw outlined that due to this, over-the-counter transactions have declined significantly.

“We have seen a marked reduction in over-the- counter transactions in our banking halls, by more than 30 per cent in fact,” she revealed.

She was speaking during the media launch of the National Library Service’s ‘Digital Literacy: Empowering Our Elderly in the Digital Age’ recently.

FCIB is co-sponsoring the initiative, which is aimed at improving the computer literacy of persons over 65.

Noting that the bank has made significant improvements in its online offerings, she said persons no longer even have to come into the bank to open an account.

Whitelaw said in the near for the future, the financial institution will also be upgrading its smart ABMs across the region, adding that its clientele has readily embraced using those at the Wildey and Warrens branches.