PHILIPSBURG--RBC Bank will be offering relief to its clients on a case-by-case basis.
In response to several questions from The Daily Herald on the subject, RBC Senior Manager Communications Hanneke Stomp-Harmsen said the bank knows that residents of St. Maarten, Saba, and other affected Caribbean countries will need support as they rebuild their homes and communities.
She said RBC has developed a Disaster Relief Programme that serves as a framework for affected markets due to the passing of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The relief programme includes residential mortgages and consumer loan waivers, as well as consumer credit product offerings for affected clients.
“Of course, there is no ‘one size fits all’ and therefore we will assess and facilitate all client requests on a case-by-case basis,” she said.
Clients and residents will be able to learn more about the programme and the options available to them by speaking to an RBC advisor at the bank’s Canniegeter Street or Saba branches.
“All of our branches in St. Maarten and Saba have sustained minor to significant damage in the passing of Hurricane Irma and subsequently Hurricane Maria. Our branch in Saba suffered minor damage and has reopened its doors as of September 14, followed by our branch at Cannegieter Street in Philipsburg a few days later,” Stomp-Harmsen said.
“We welcome all our clients to our Cannegieter Branch from 9:00am to 2:30pm to serve them in the best possible way and help them meet their financial needs.”
RBC’s Cole Bay and Simpson Bay branches in St. Maarten, as well as its off-site automatic teller machines (ATMs) will remain closed until further notice.
“We are currently in the process of assessing the damage and executing the necessary repairs to rebuild our locations and ATM services. If clients have access to Internet, we would like to remind them that our RBC Online and Mobile Banking solutions are available at any time for all banking transactions,” she said.
“With more than 100 years of history in the region, we have experienced the impact of natural disasters before – as recently 2016 when Hurricane Matthew created significant damage in the Northern Caribbean. While we are rebuilding our branches and services we remain committed to supporting the recovery and rebuilding efforts for our employees, clients and communities.”
Earlier this month RBC announced a donation of US $300,000 to support relief efforts in the wake of hurricane Irma. The Caribbean relief effort received $200,000 while $100,000 was directed toward relief efforts in Florida. In addition, RBC employees are donating to support relief efforts directly and through RBC’s global donations programme and encouraging everyone in the Caribbean region to work together and to “#StandStrong.”
