Retired banker Everett Christian believes Prime Minister Gaston Browne’s comments blasting the operations of ECAB – and particularly its chairman Craig Walter – are unhelpful and politicise the situation facing the bank.
The Eastern Caribbean Amalgamated Bank (ECAB) has faced a wealth of criticism from the public since taking over Scotiabank branches in 2021.
The backlash has escalated this year, with out of service ATMs, poor customer service and the inability to process transactions among some of the issues noted.
Prime Minister Gaston Browne, in a recent Facebook post, stated that Walter should be held accountable and resign amid alleged silence over the issue.
“I am not suggesting that he [Craig Walter] could not have done something to address the issues of the bank because that is obviously one of his responsibilities,” Christian said.
“But from where I sit, I don’t know what deliberations took place at board level, what information was conveyed to the board by management, so we don’t know where responsibility lies for the situation,” he said, adding that the Prime Minister should have been more “considerate”.
“There are avenues which are certainly available to the Prime Minister to get the views of the government across, without going on social media or even the other public media to make comments, particularly where, in this instance, he is attacking the chairman as though the chairman, by himself, is responsible,” Christian continued.
ECAB previously said it would be issuing a press release addressing criticisms facing the second largest indigenous bank in the country. It has not yet been forthcoming.
Meanwhile, Christian said ECAB management needs to get its operations in order and to have better communication with its customers before it begins to lose business.
“It is up to management to take these concerns seriously, and to work expeditiously to find and implement solutions so that people will have more confidence in the institution. They will feel that their money is, in fact, safe because we cannot continue in a situation where you are getting poor service but you are paying fees which you cannot justify,” he added.