Tuesday, May 5th 2009 was an exciting and special occasion for customers of the National Commercial Bank (NCB) and residents of Layou and the surrounding areas, as a new 24 hour ATM service was officially opened.{{more}}

The opening prayer was said by Keith Inniss, Manager Retail Banking. Cheryl Rodriguez, the Bank’s P.R.O. addressed the gathering and Sandra Jack, Manager of the Barrouallie Sub-Branch, Chateaubelair and Layou Agencies did the vote of thanks. The ribbon was cut by the third customer of the NCB Layou Agency Monica Daly-John and the first transaction was done by one of the NCB’s customers Fiona Taylor.

Other persons present were the Post Mistress at the Layou Post Office, Brenda Jessop and Laverne Audain, Town Clerk at the Layou Town Board, Wendell Davis, Manager I.T. at the NCB, Leroy Rose Jnr. , ATM Officer at the NCB and Ian Haynes, Student Loan Officer also at the NCB.

In her remarks Rodriguez welcomed the gathering and thanked them for sharing this moment with the Bank.

Rodriguez said” On June 4th 1977 the NCB was established at Halifax Street and in 1978 a number of Savings Agencies, which were operated through the District Post Offices were opened throughout St Vincent and the Grenadines. She thanked the Postal Authorities for assisting the NCB with those services. Presently, there are two Agencies remaining, one at Chateaubelair and one in Layou.

In April 2007, following the opening of the “Louis Straker Building” in Layou, the Bank was offered its own premises and a full time Teller was placed at the Layou Agency, offering a variety of services, to serve residents and visitors.

According to Rodriguez, “The NCB has been making tremendous strides in the Financial Services Sector, and is the first Commercial Bank to offer some of its services, Telebanking, 24 hour ATM, Golden Years Accounts, with no standing in line for our Senior citizens, ONLINE Banking and the list goes on.

“Our customers are demanding new and innovative services which sometimes can only be delivered by Technology. The 24 hour ATM service is one of these.

“Today, we are pleased to add another location to our list of 10, namely, Bedford Street, Halifax Street in Kingstown, Barrouallie, Georgetown, Calliaqua, E. T. Joshua Airport, Mesopotamia, Bequia, Canouan, Union Island,” Rodriguez said.