THE Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) gave back to its customers recently through its Christmas Celebrate in Style promotion and a familiarisation meeting with its Brand Ambassadors.

The winners of the Christmas Celebrate in Style promotion were awarded last week.

“I am overwhelmed with joy,” said first place winner Olinka Adams, who won herself a trip to Trinidad and Tobago, compliments of the bank and LIAT.

According to her, she has been using GBTI for some time now and had applied for a loan in December. This was what led her to win the prize.

Ms Patricia Ann Mitchell, the second place winner, won a trip for two to the Aruwai Resort. She too was elated.

“I did not expect to win anything; I took a loan to do some things … and so was very surprised,” she said.

She will be taking her husband with her to enjoy the all-inclusive overnight trip for two at the local tourism destination in the Mazaruni River.

Krystle Lee and Ariane Chung, two sisters, were excited with their third place prize, especially being new customers of GBTI. They share a joint account, saw the promotion and applied for a loan.

“The weekend at the Marriot sounds good,” they said and added that this would make a good start to their New Year and a good start to a long and loyal customer relationship with the bank.

The Celebrate in Style Christmas promotion was intended to provide rewards for customers who took loans between October and December 2018. To be eligible, customers were required to apply for a loan of $250,000 or more during the period.

In addition to that promotion, the bank also created much excitement this past week as it took its Brand Ambassadors cricketing star Shimron Hetmyer and National hockey and tennis champ, Sarah Klautky, on a familiarisation meet and greet at its Georgetown and Berbice branches.

At the Regent and Water Streets branches, customers, fans and staff were excited to meet the young stars and engaged them briefly, offering words of encouragement and used the opportunity to also have autographs and photos taken.

For both Hetmyer and Klautky, it was the first time taking time off to meet and interact with fans and as such, they both expressed their gratitude to GBTI for believing in them and throwing their support behind them.

“It’s good because young people don’t always have the support from (large companies) and parents can’t always afford to finance their children sports goals,” Hetmyer said. He also commented that the interactions have been “fantastic”.

Klautky shared similar sentiments, observing that field hockey and tennis are not very popular sports locally but she intends to popularize them.

“GBTI is proud to have these two young sports personalities represent its brand and looks forward to working with them to change lives and provide opportunities in Guyana. Sports and culture help define us as Guyanese and we see Guyanese for who we are. It is only fitting, therefore, that we support what fosters love and unity and what makes us Guyanese.

Customers and fans in Berbice were also given the opportunity to meet and interact with the star Guyanese cricketer before he joins the West Indies squad for the upcoming England tour in the Caribbean.

We look forward to doing more for our customers this year.