Jul 2012 Financial News

Rebranding to Republic Bank: A smooth transition

Jul 23, 2012

MANAGING Director, Derwin Howell, has said that the rebranding of the Barbados National Bank is going smoothly.

Effective July 1, the name of the BNB was changed to Republic Bank (Barbados) Limited.

“There were a few people who had concerns but our team outlined the only change was the name. We dealt with any misunderstandings and business goes on, there was not a lot of negative back lash from the rebranding,” Howell said.

Speaking to Howell right before the rebranding, he assured Barbadians that the name change from BNB to Republic Bank of Barbados Limited is to put simply – a change of signage at this point.

“It is not a dramatic change. The ownership has not changed, jobs remain the same, business terms and conditions remain the same etc. One of the most visible changes is that our ABM machines now called Flexi Tellers will now be termed Blue Machines.”

In light of the recent downgrade for Barbados, he believes that a downgrade does have a negative connotation. “However, the fundamentals of the economy would be the same if the downgrade came today or next week, the economy doesn’t change all of a sudden because of a downgrade,” said the bank official.

“It is something we need to be aware of because it will have an impact as we move forward but it is a matter of how we manage that impact. As the Minister of Finance said we need not be distracted, we need to put our minds to look at what needs to be done as a nation.”

In terms of Government selling the remaining shares of BNB at this time, he maintained, “It a matter for the government, they do need to reduce the deficit... if that would give them funds I’m sure they would consider it but discussions continue.”


Source:
Nadia Brancker
Barbados Advocate
Monday July 23, 2012

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