ScotiaBank set to close branches in five islands of the Bahamas!

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SCOTIABANK ANNOUNCED TODAY IT WILL BE CLOSING ALL REMAINING FAMILY ISLAND BRANCHES PERMANENTLY EXCEPT ITS BRANCH ON GRAND BAHAMA ISLAND!

NASSAU| Bahamas Press is reporting there is more economic fallout in the country than being reported and tonight a major Canadian Bank in the Bahamas has announced its closures on five islands in the country.

Scotiabank Bahamas has announced its decision to close operations on the following islands over next four months. Branches on Abaco, Andros, Exuma, Long Island and Paradise Island will all be impacted in this organisational restructuring exercise.

This move will confirm a complete and permanent closure of the Bank’s operations on islands of the Bahamas with the exception of Grand Bahama Island. The closures should impact jobs and services on the island affected in the changes.

In a statement shared from the operation to BP Scotiabank’s Managing Director Rodger Archer wrote, “While we have made the difficult decision to consolidate a number of our retail operations these charges are necessary for the long-term viability of our success as a business. We will make every effort during this process, to minimize customer impact, and preserve the employment of affected staff through redeployment , where possible”.

What is not indicated is the fact that while accounts for all island account holders will be transferred to New Providence, the bank’s staff on the island and here on New Providence will be greatly downsized to ABM and online services. The times are changing and they are NOT COMING BACK!

According to the release the Bank indicated that changes on the impacted family islands are in line with the significant shifts in customer behaviour and transaction volumes over the past few years which have been reduced by as much as 50% as customers continue to utilize digital banking platforms.

And while banks are closing, jobs are being lost and businesses across the country have closed up their doors for good, The Minnis Government aka “DA LOCKDOWN GOVERNMENT” continues to reassure Bahamians that all is well. Ah boy! We hope when a Bahamian walks up to a bank and seeks American Dollars they can get it.

We report yinner decide!