Republic Bank customers want explanation for monies deducted from accounts

May 23, 2020 News

By Shervin Belgrave

Some clients of Republic Bank are at a loss after significant amount of monies have been deducted from their accounts recently and are not satisfied with the explanations given them
Kaieteur News spoke yesterday with customs broker, Jonathan Dwarka, who claimed that he had been making a number of deposits since October last year. He said that the last deposit he made in February totaled to a sum GYD$1,100,000. During this period, Dwarka said he did no online transaction or wire transfers. However, last Wednesday he was called by the bank and told that it will be deducting a sum of $270,000 because of a mistake made.

Dwarka’s Bank statement dating back from October to February

Startled he enquired of the attendant via telephone to explain a little more on that mistake. He was told that back in October, he deposited a sum of money which was automatically tripled mistakenly by the ATM machine. Not satisfied with the answer given he decided to visit the Republic Bank branch the following day to query the matter. He met the manager and asked for a detailed explanation.
The manager told him that the ATM machine malfunctions sometimes and registers higher figures than was actually deposited. Still not convinced, Dwarka told the manager that he has been keeping note of each deposit made and the total deposits corresponds with the $1.1M displayed in his available balance back in February. He also highlighted to the manager that since February he has not made any further deposits or withdrawals. Dwarka claimed that the manger was unable to explain further and forwarded him to the technical staff that was responsible for the investigation of the alleged error.
“He too was unable to explain clearly why the money had to be deducted” said Dwarka.
He told Kaieteur News that the man gave a contradictory response to that of the manager and the attendant who had called him. The technical staff told Dwarka that the day he made the transaction in October, the envelope turned up empty.
This response confused Dwarka even more, because to his knowledge he had deposited an envelope with cash and the sum he deposited was not $270,000. Confused and clueless Dwarka is now seeking a definitive explanation from the bank as to why such a significant deduction would be made from his account yesterday.
Latrice Collymore, another account holder, told Kaieteur News yesterday that she was being doubled charged for online purchases she made a few months ago. The woman said that on the day she made the purchases her account balance showed that the amount spent was deducted. However, recently when she checked her account she noticed an overdraft of the same amount she had spent. Baffled she queried and was told that when an online purchase is made the money goes on hold and the bank uses its own money to make the purchases. She was also advised that at some point in time the amount “goes back in to the client’s account and will later be deducted when the bank is ready”. Collymore said such a system is hard to understand and she cannot recall seeing any amount of cash deposited back into her account at any given time. She also said that if the amount was re-deposited then there would be no overdraft.
Wayne Ford, yet another account holder, said that he was also given the same explanation a few days ago after he discovered an overdraft in his account for an online purchase he made back in February.
Ford made four purchases in the month of February and his receipts showed that the cash had been deducted that said day. At no time did he see a re-deposit into his account but he now owes an overdraft for something he had already paid for back in February.
He claimed that the staff who attended his query told him that it was some kind of new system. Ford said the staff also said that a public advisory will be issued to the public via Facebook but to date he has not seen no advisory explaining what this new system is about.
Account holder, Antonio Wazowski is thinking about going into Republic Bank today to withdraw all of his money and close his account. He does not owe an overdraft but has seen money deducted twice for an online purchase he made in January of this year. He told this Kaieteur News yesterday that he made a purchase valuing GYD$50,000 at Amazon online. Both his e-receipt and account balance showed that the money was deducted. However, yesterday when he decided to review his account balance he noticed that the same amount had been deducted again for an online Amazon purchase.
“I only shop one time at Amazon not two times”, related a furious Wazowski.
Another woman who asked for her name not to be mentioned said that she had faced the same problem but got it rectified and her money refunded. She said that the bank told her that it was a simple connection issue with online bank servers.
Kaieteur News tried to contact with Republic Bank to clarify the issue but all telephone lines rang out.