With a growing number of fraud cases reported among persons who bank in Jamaica, the National Commercial Bank (NCB) on Wednesday hosted some of its senior citizen and special needs customers during a Customer Education Forum, and reiterated the importance of data protection, especially regarding their finances.

The event was held at the NCB Financial Centre located along Constant Spring Road in St Andrew, and in recognition of Customer Service Week, which is celebrated between October 6 – 10, and Cyber Security Awareness Month, being celebrated in October.

The event was a full circle for persons living with disabilities and senior citizens, who are among the most targeted groups of persons for fraud, primarily because of their disadvantage.

Perrin Gayle, Executive Vice President, Retail Banking Division, NCB, during his address, said the bank is exploring the option of doing more community experiences and investing more to ensure all NCB locations comply with the Disabilities Act.

“This afternoon, we come together for something that truly matters to us as a country. And, this inclusive forum is a moment for us to pause, to listen, and to reflect on how we serve all Jamaicans, especially those who face barriers to access,” Gayle said during his address to the gathering.

“We’ve always said that, ‘NCB is the people’s bank’, and that’s a big responsibility, and it means that we need to create experiences that make every person feel welcome, respected and supported,” he said.

He said when he thinks about inclusion, his mind goes to all the different kinds of people: the customer who is blind and wants to withdraw cash independently, the senior who prefers to speak to a real person and not do online bank transactions and the young professionals who depends on captions and sign language to participate in conversations.

“These are all people who deserve the same right to convenience, confidence and most importantly, independence. Persons want to be able to go about their business on their own independently,” he said.

Gayle boasted of the strategies and programmes NCB has led the charge with implementing in the banking sector, starting with their Braille-enabled Automated Teller Machine (ATM) that was launched in June 2020 for banking to be more accessible to persons from the blind and visually impaired community.

Frontline team members at NCB have also been trained through investment in sign language communication, so that they are able to communicate with deaf and mute customers. Gayle said at a staff event on Friday, October 3, for a new year which started for the bank on October 1, Deaf Can Coffee barristers were on location, but an interpreter was needed for ease of flow with the queue for coffee serving, and a trained staff member was able to step in and translate and manage the interactions for both the deaf and the abled.

The event was held under the theme ‘Empowering you to stay safe in a digital world’, while National Customer Service Week is being held under the theme ‘MISSION POSSIBLE – Powering Possibilities, One Experience at a Time’. ‘

Other highlights from the event.