Open Letter to the General Manager of ACB Caribbean, Ms. Joanna I. Charles From Frustrated Customer

Open Letter to the General Manager of ACB Caribbean, Ms. Joanna I. Charles 

Cc: The Honourable Gaston Browne, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Antigua and Barbuda 

Subject: Is It Too Much to Ask for Customers to Access Their Own Money? 

Dear Ms. Charles, 

I write to you as a long-standing customer of ACB Caribbean who, like many others, is growing increasingly frustrated by the ongoing challenges in accessing our own funds. The current situation is at an explosive tipping point, and the last resort will be me closing my account permanently. ACB Caribbean is currently unable to adequately serve its enormous client base. What was once an institution of reliability and pride for the people of Antigua and Barbuda is now a daily source of stress and inconvenience. 

At any hour of the day, a visit to any ACB ATM is almost guaranteed to meet long lines of frustrated customers. This is not a one-time occurrence, it has become the norm. Many of these customers do not own vehicles, forcing them to walk from branch to branch, from High and Temple Streets, to Market and High Streets, to Thames Street, in search of a functioning ATM. Those who drive are left to expand their search to Townhouse, Village Walk, or Epicurean locations, racing against time before the machines inevitably run out of cash.

To make matters worse, ACB charges customers for using ATMs that are not located at a bank branch, and even higher “convenience fees” when forced to use another bank’s machine. Imagine being unable to withdraw your own hard-earned money and then being financially penalized for seeking alternative means to do so. How is this fair? How is this even allowed? 

At each branch, there is typically only one functioning machine. The Market Street branch, for example, has had just one of three machines operational for months. Beyond limited capacity, the ATM network itself is unreliable, frequently going offline after just a few transactions and forcing customers to wait extended periods for service to resume. 

Last evening around 5 p.m., I visited the ATM only to find it already empty. There were employees inside the bank, visibly wrapping up their “Socarobics” session, and when an individual iside the ATM politely inquired with a staff member about a refill, they were told to “go to another branch” because the technician had already left for the day. This was particularly troubling given that many were attempting to withdraw cash ahead of the impending passage of Tropical Storm Jerry. By the time most working individuals reached an ATM after their shifts, there would be no cash left anywhere.

I have personally experienced this situation far too often. Even when I try visiting in the morning, the machines sometimes are often still empty or offline until 9 or 10 a.m. While those who work nearby may have the option to return later, what about the many who rely on public transportation, or construction workers stationed at remote sites who depend on cash to buy from the mobile food vendors?

And to the insensitive people who are quick to dismiss these complaints by asking why people still use cash, the reality is that Antigua and Barbuda’s economy is not yet fully digitized. Public transportation, taxis, vendors at the public market, people give their children lunch money to go to school, barbers, hairdressers, nail technicians, and small businesses still depend heavily on cash transactions. Electronic payments are not universally accessible or affordable, and interbank transfers can take more than 24 hours to clear. Until that changes, access to physical cash remains essential for daily life.

For context, ACB Caribbean acquired Royal Bank of Canada’s operations in Antigua in April 2021, following RBC’s acquisition of RBTT in 2008. In the years since, service delivery has declined sharply. After more than three years under this new structure, it is unacceptable that customers continue to face such basic accessibility issues.

It is disheartening to witness what was once a respected national institution becoming a symbol of inefficiency and disregard for its customers. From my vantage point, ACB Caribbean is simply incapable of servicing their current clientele.

Therefore, I respectfully ask: 

• What steps are being taken to ensure that ACB Caribbean customers can reliably access their funds at any time? 
• Why are customers being charged when they are forced to use alternative methods to access their own money due to the bank’s own service failures? 
• What oversight or accountability mechanisms are in place to prevent this ongoing negligence? 

To the Honourable Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Gaston Browne, I also ask, how can a financial institution operating under the jurisdiction of the Government of Antigua and Barbuda continue to function in this manner without intervention? Why are ordinary citizens being made to suffer financial penalties for simply trying to access their wages and savings?

We, the people of Antigua and Barbuda, deserve better. We deserve a banking system that respects its customers, prioritizes service reliability, and operates with integrity and accountability. I am asking for your immediate intervention into this ongoing situation. Banks must be made to held accountable for longstanding inadequate operations.

Respectfully,Frustrated Customer

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