Another Incident with Republic Bank

Lethem, Region 9, Guyana, South America

Today, 25th of May, 2020, I visited Republic Bank, Lethem Branch. After being required to take a number and stand outside in the hot sun for one hour, I was finally let into the bank – after I put my mask on of course.

I noticed that $48,000 had miraculously disappeared from my savings. I asked the teller what had happened there. She explained that it was a purchase I had made on the 10th of January, 2020.

“That’s 5 months ago,” I said.

“Yes,” she agreed. “But the charge was only deducted today.”

I told her that I do not remember making a purchase from Amazon on the 10th of January. She told me that in that case I need to write to Amazon, then Amazon will send me a reply and then I will bring the reply to the bank so they can start a dispute. A dispute usually takes more than 3 months to resolve by the way.

At that point I asked her why I was being charged now for a transaction that I did 5 months ago. To make a long story short, her answer didn’t make much sense.

She then asked if I would like to do another transaction. I told her I was about to do a deposit but I was afraid that it would disappear and then I would be told it was something I had purchased 40 years ago – because, frankly speaking, the stories from Republic Bank keep getting sweeter and sweeter.

Republic Bank has an “on hold” payment system for online purchases done with the Republic Bank One Card. It is a system designed to confuse the buyer. Payments are allegedly put “on hold” after a purchase but remain on your account. You can see it in your account but cannot use it until after several weeks or months when it is finally “charged” out of the your account. Whether you are being double charged as it often appears is hard to determine, especially with the confusing “roundabout” explanations which the staff gives you at the bank.

It is beyond me why Republic Bank would create a system so frustrating to the customer. However, when financial institutions create systems designed to confuse their own customers, one can only speculate that the intention is to deceive and deprive them at some point.