Donald E. de Castro. Photo: VINO

Eventually, the Virgin Islands National Bank, now Banco Popular, opened a branch here in Road Town in 1961, Barclays Bank, which is now First Caribbean, opened in 1965 followed by Scotia Bank in 1967 then Chase Manhattan Bank in 1968, now First Bank and then the Development Bank, now the National Bank of The Virgin Islands, May 15, 1980.

While many of us can appreciate the service these banks have offered over the years to this Territory there are those of us who also realised that Virgin Islanders have been taken advantage of in many ways by these banks with the assistance of present and past governments as they failed to introduce and pass consumer protection legislation to properly regulate the banks. Many of us are aware of the various fees some banks are putting on poor people with savings accounts and to cash checks. Another concern that I have is the exorbitant amount of collateral they require when making loans to local black people and businesses. It is now time that the people of this territory demand better service and more respect from these institutions, especially the foreign-owned banks.

The National Bank of the Virgin Islands, which began service in 1980 as the Development Bank in order to assist Virgin Islanders, was converted to a limited company by the Government and subsequently issued a full commercial license in 2006 when it came under the regulations of the Financial Services Commission. The services it now offers are savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and mortgages, personal and commercial loans. The provision of additional services such as checking accounts is long overdue.

With this new license, the original intent of development was curtailed. However, the developmental focus of the Bank was not completely lost as one of the mandates was for government to invest a sum of money in the Bank for a Development Portfolio, which would be used to make soft loans for development type activities such as small businesses, fishing, farming and loans to first-time homeowners. I was unable to get a figure; however, my personal opinion would be at least $10M dollars over a four to five year period. It is time for the Bank to establish this Development Portfolio. In addition, I would like to suggest that the possibility exist where the Bank can eventually have an investment portfolio which would invest in a Land bank. This Land bank would buy undeveloped tracts of land and properties up for foreclosure. It would then resell to Virgin Islanders and other Belongers rather than letting our land and properties get away from the rightful owners, Virgin Islanders.

The Bank is a critical source of funding for small businesses, partnerships and sole traders. It is therefore imperative that the government invest the necessary money in the Bank and that the Bank be more aggressive in attracting clients, improve its customer service focus, offer more lenient terms on loans and better interest rates. In other words, it needs to be more competitive with the other commercial banks. However, it must not fail to aggressively collect its loans when overdue and willing and prepared to renegotiate with customers during financial difficulties.

Let us not forget that the other banks served us well during our early developmental years but they have made millions in profits, however, today they need us more than we need them. To assist our bank, Virgin Islanders must patronise the Bank to put it in a position to increase its profits and in turn re-lend this money to Virgin Islanders, thereby keeping millions of our own hard earned money in the Virgin Islands.