RBC MD: Banks must re-evaluate after 'unprecedented events'

Gretchen Camacho-Mohammed, RBC TT managing director. PHOTO COURTESY RBC
Gretchen Camacho-Mohammed, RBC TT managing director. PHOTO COURTESY RBC

BANKS must re-evaluate themselves after unprecedented events in the industry, said RBCTT managing director Gretchen Camacho-Mohammed.

She was speaking last week Tuesday at the formal reopening of the RBC St Augustine branch.

"In banking, unprecedented events in the last couple of years have changed the expectations of our industry, among them new technology, new competitors, more stringent regulatory environments and volatile economic conditions. Every country and every bank has been affected, and these changes have been the catalyst for us to re-evaluate what a bank means to its clients and how we can best meet those expectations."

If banks are to thrive tomorrow, she said, "We must be innovative today and quick to identify and respond to our clients’ expectations and their desire for a simpler and more efficient way to work with us. That’s what we are celebrating today.

"In no uncertain terms I am excited by the transformation journey that RBC is on and the many opportunities it will create to help our clients thrive and communities prosper."

The renovated St Augustine branch was another of RBC's "reimagined" branches "designed to demonstrate how we are your digitally-enabled relationship bank," she said.

"Before all else, I want to say thank you for your patience and apologise for any inconvenience you may have experienced as we completed our makeover, but it was important for us to create an environment that better suited the needs of clients. Thank you for working through this with us and remaining part of our RBC family."

Camacho-Mohammed said RBC has been doing some work across the branch network and last year opened a financial solutions centre at Atlantic Plaza in Pt Lisas, as well as a new branch in Marabella.

St Augustine, she said, was the first in a series of planned branch updates "as we invite clients to reimagine banking. RBC is pleased to offer banking with a difference – creating spaces for traditional, digital and relationship banking. We are changing the way we interact with you to add value and provide support for your more complex financial solutions."

Roger Cogle, regional vice president, retail Caribbean banking, said the opening was a special event "not because we have a remodelled branch to show off, (but) special because we are reimagining our bank. We are opening doors to the future of banking and RBC is leading that way.

"We recognise that around the world, clients’ needs and expectations are changing: how they interact with service providers, the choices they want when deciding how, when and where to get what they need."

He said Expedia, Amazon, Netflix and Uber are just a few of the market leaders and innovators who have vanquished traditional competitors who failed to recognise their clients’ changing behaviour.

"We are willing to imagine what the bank of the future will look like and we are taking steps to define it by evolving our RBC retail branches and providing choice and flexibility for our clients. At RBC, we are working towards being a digitally-enabled relationship bank. Is that an oxymoron? Can a bank focus on both aspects of the business and do so with excellence? The best businesses do what others think is impossible to meet clients’ needs."

Cogle said RBC is providing clients with multi-channel options that offer them the flexibility and convenience to bank anywhere and at any time.

"At the same time, we will still interact with clients in ways that add value and provide support for more complex financial solutions."

"We are on a quest to finally simplify and enhance your banking experience even as we meet your ever-evolving financial needs."

Cogle pointed out that as RBC's mobile app, online banking and other digital channels afford customers 24-hour service, RBC is the bank in TT that offers the most extensive branch opening hours.

"Indeed, I can say I am proud that at RBC we continue to evolve by creating opportunities, anticipating clients’ needs, using technology and offering flexibility."

He said RBC's declared purpose is to help clients thrive and communities prosper.

"So it’s on an equally positive note that I am happy to share that even outside our banking halls we are standing tall with the residents of this community."

At the event RBC presented a $20,000 cheque to Amica House for socially displaced girls. The home, at Hillview Terrace in Curepe, was established in July 2001, has a capacity of 24 girls and aims to give them a chance for them to reach their fullest potential.

"It’s a place where they come to know love, care, comfort and protection, all towards healing the emotional, physical and psychological harm that had befallen them," Cogle said.

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