Recognizing that customers want complete focus and attention when seeking credit, from mortgages to education loans, CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank is opening Mortgage and Loan Centres across its 17 markets.

Hailed as “centres of excellence” designed to meet all the credit needs of customers, facilities have already opened in Turks and Caicos, Barbados, St. Lucia and Antigua since October last year, with Curacao slated next.

The Mortgage and Loan Centres provide centres of excellence for customers to have access to credit. And so while we focus on customers’ primary focus we’re also assisting them with ancillary products and services whether through other credit services or convenience products.”

Enhanced sales and service offerings

Saying that the new centres “fit nicely” within the bank’s strategy of enhancing its sales and service offerings, Mr. St. Hill said, “In these times it’s important for existing as well as potential customers to know that there is more that we can do for them and so we want to walk that journey with them through the lifecycle of mortgages as well as other important investments and financial decisions.”

Well-qualified and dedicated staff

Highlighting what customers could look forward to with the Mortgage and Loan Centres, Mr. St. Hill noted that the centres were being centrally located in each jurisdiction so as to provide easy access for customers. The centres also have a team stocked with specialist skills and knowledge, as well as faster turnaround times. To this end, the centres’ teams will push through non-bank controlled processes, working closely with attorneys-at-law and insurance providers so that customers’ requirements are satisfied quickly.

In identifying the other services which customers could look forward to, Mr. St. Hill spoke of the bank’s relaunch of its Platinum Banking service (formerly Wealth Management) with additional products and services; and its Business Banking services in which planning guides and advisory seminars are to be offered to small businesses.

First Mortgage Day held

The Banking Centre recently conducted a successful “test run” of its advisory services by hosting the first “Mortgage Day” – a mini exposition which brought together some of this country’s leading real estate experts to talk with prospective customers about opportunities for investment. Mr. St. Hill observed that CIBC FirstCaribbean is keenly aware of its role in helping its customers navigate the process to home ownership and other investment.

Mr. St. Hill also noted the expanding ABM network saying that at Warrens, in Barbados, for example, the network had expanded from two to six ABMs with the recent opening of the Warrens Banking Centre. “I don’t think you’ll find another bank in this area that offers this level of express banking and convenience to customers,” he added. The bank’s Barbados Mortgage and Loan Centre is centrally located in the Warrens Banking Centre.

The Managing Director, Retail and Business Banking concluded, “CIBC FirstCaribbean is repositioning itself to be even more closely aligned with what matters to our customers who wish to access credit.”