The Tribune

THE Royal Bank of Canada has told customers it will investigate after they raised concerns about the safety of their accounts after being unable to withdraw money over the weekend.

The bank issued a statement yesterday after five irate customers complained to main branch bank manager Duane Kemp that after visiting Automated Teller Machines (ATM) throughout New Providence, it seemed as though their money “vanished into thin air”.

The Tribune contacted one of the customers, who declined to give her identity for publication.

According to the woman, she was told by Mr Kemp that she – with the four other customers – were likely the victims of a fraud operation.

But Nathaniel Beneby, RBC’s managing director for the Bahamas, Cayman and Turks and Caicos Islands, said in a statement that there were technical issues over the weekend that caused ATMs to go down for a brief time. He did not confirm whether fraud might have also been an issue.

However, the woman was angry that RBC could allow such an incident to occur at the inconvenience of hard working customers with bills to pay and deadlines to meet.

“Whoever that person is, they are winning big,” she said. “The bank won’t really say what happened, except that it looks like it could be fraud. The person moved a grand from me.

“The manager says he put our concerns in for investigation and they’ll need a couple days. I said, sir, I need my money back quick. That’s an inconvenience for me. That’s my damn rent money. The manager told me to have the landlord contact him, so he could explain the issue.

“Investigate what though? If five people come first thing in the morning with the same issue, don’t you think it’s a problem on your end? Everyone money just missing? What the hell is that about? As big as RBC is, your IT department should have secure firewalls,” she said.

In Mr Beneby’s statement, he spoke generally of potential instances of fraud, where he said RBC takes seriously the privacy and security of clients and the bank.

“This is a cornerstone of our business and remains one of our highest priorities. We have a team of fraud experts dedicated to preventing, detecting and investigating fraud. Additionally, we continually invest in fraud prevention and detection technology and we will continue to develop measures to counter future attempts made by individuals with criminal intent.

“Fraud is a global issue, and RBC works hard to protect its clients and operations from financial crime. Employee training, tight internal procedures, customer awareness programmes and cooperation with governments and law enforcement agencies are all part of our efforts. Despite the best prevention efforts, some fraud still occurs. In cases of confirmed fraud, clients are protected, funds will be reimbursed, and we will do whatever else is needed to protect our clients and the bank.”

He said any client who believes that their RBC account has been compromised should contact their branch immediately during operating hours or the bank’s Call Centre 242-326-CARD (2273) for immediate assistance 24 hours a day, seven days a week.