I opened my first bank account at Royal Bank in 1975 and have remained a loyal customer through all their changes from Royal Bank to National Bank of Industry & Commerce and subsequently, to Republic Bank. I had dealt with Mr. Bobby Oswald, Mr. Alcloo, Ms. Arjune, Mr. John Alves, Mr. and Mrs. Plummer, Mrs. Serene C. Persaud, Mr. C. Persaud aka Ravi, Mr. Munro, Mrs. Cox and many others all of whom have been very nice to me and have helped me – through sound financial advice – to be where I am today.

I have never had any reason to consider changing banks, even though at one time or another I was not granted a loan I was seeking, I realise now that those times of disappointment actually helped and I am wiser because of those experiences. In this regard, I would like to say a special ‘thank you’ to Mrs. Serene C. Persaud who tirelessly guided me in my financial decision-making with the Bank and Mr. C Persaud who subsequently took over from Mrs. S .C. Persaud and did the same.

To offer a word of advice to all young people who would like to have a good relationship with banks – be honest with your loan officer, be honest with yourself and maintain good principles with your loan officer and the banking institution you choose to do business with. If you have a problem with repayment, go and talk to your loan officer. The road was not easy for me all the way as it is now – thanks to God and my banker. There were times when I had to go to Mr. Alves to put things in place and have learnt so much about banking through him. One of the things he would say to me is “… the bank is not in the real estate business. When we lend you money, we want you to repay it. We don’t want to sell your house.” Again, because of my principles, I can say I have found a friend in Mr/ Alves I and am proud to say that I have never taken advantage of that friendship.

Now that the bank is Republic Bank, everything is the same for me. It’s just a name change. There are many other loan officers, who have been good to me (too many to mention).

I was working with Banks DIH, when I opened my first account with Royal Bank. I worked with Banks DIH for 24 years – the current Chairman, Mr. Clifford Reis joined the Banks DIH team while I was there. The Banks DIH team comprised of Mr. Desmond Duarte, Mr. Dennis Lilliman, Mrs. Audrey DeFreitas, Mr. Dennis Veira, Mr. R I Perreira and Mr. Chinapin, just to name a few. Mr D’Aguiar was the Chairman in those days. Mr. Reis and I became friends because of my principle of respect for others and honesty and I have the greatest respect for him. I would also like to make mention of Mr. Mike Perreira, Mr. McDonald, Mr. Ward and Jenny (and there are others – too numerous to mention) who are all still providing committed service and giving of their expertise to Banks DIH; all of whom I have a great deal of respect – a sentiment I know they return to me.

I mentioned Banks DIH because that entity, along with Royal Bank/NBIC/Republic Bank helped shape me into the man I’ve become. I give God thanks for those people who have crossed my path and those who continue to be blessings to my life
ARTHUR TAYLOR