THE BOTTOM- On paper, it appeared to be a relatively simple operation and one from which customers on St. Eustatius and Saba could potentially also benefit. However -so far- nothing turns out to be less true.

There were already a relatively large number of complaints regarding the exchange of debit cards, mainly from private individuals, but these seem to be nothing compared to the problems faced by companies on Saba.

The Saba Business Association has now sent a complaint letter to the Windward Island Bank (WIB), where the customers come from and MCB Bonaire where the customers have ended up. Some companies still do not have access to their online account more than a week after the transition. In addition, customers cannot see an online overview of their executed credit card payments.

“Some customers are unable to request online banking for existing accounts because your system rejects the requests. These customers still do not have any access to their personal accounts. How will this issue be resolved as customers are still waiting for representatives to contact them, as they promised, to resolve this ongoing and very urgent matter?” the SBA asks in their letter.

Credit card payments

There are also issues with credit card payments made by customers during the transition but not credited to the corresponding companies’ accounts. “Customers have their proof of payment through the credit card slips, but companies have yet to receive the payments made.”

An issue that causes a lot of dissatisfaction is the fact that payments to the RBC Saba are regarded as payments to foreign countries, with all the costs that this entails. “This while the RBC on Saba waives extra costs for payments from abroad. So why are you still charging for it?” asks SBA chairman Alida Heilbron in her letter to directors Downes (WIB) and Domacassé (MCB Bonaire).

ABB

As if all this is not enough, there is also is the fact that the MCB charges customers on St. Eustatius and Saba 6% ABB on top of the bank charges for transactions, while the ABB on Saba and St. Eustatius is only 4%.

Heilbron says in her letter that he hopes that the WIB and the MCB will do everything in their power to solve the problems as quickly as possible.