Dear Editor,

I have an account with Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited which I mainly use for online transactions. It has a debit card attached to it and the overdrawn amount allowed on the account is 0.00; I cannot spend more than I have in it. Whenever I need to make online purchases, I would usually transfer money into the account from another. 

Recently, I made an online purchase from a reputable merchant who I will call merchant X. The amount due was put on ‘hold’ as is the norm. When the item shipped the payment was taken on 29th October 2025; the transaction was completed. On 4th November, I noticed a new transaction in my bank app labelled as ‘teller withdrawal’ and the exact sum for the transaction completed on the 29th was withdrawn from my account again. A few hours later, the transaction was relabelled with the name of merchant X. In effect, there is now a duplicate transaction. I did not initiate the second transaction or authorise it.

Due to this unauthorised transaction by the bank my account is now overdrawn, and I was promptly charged overdrawn account fees. Before it, my account had a positive balance with enough funds to cover items such as monthly subscriptions.

I tried calling various numbers associated with the bank to rectify the issue and my calls kept going unanswered or it was disconnected without anyone responding. This is the usual level of service from Republic Bank. And the one time someone took my call, he was unable to assist me. I was told that the supervisor would be put on the phone, but she was apparently not around and when the call was transferred to the ‘refund dept.’ nobody picked up. Given the opening hours of the bank, it appears as though they cater for the unemployed and the minority of night-shift workers.

Earlier this year, I faced a similar issue with duplicate unauthorised transactions initiated by the same bank. They were labelled as ‘teller withdrawals’ and then later relabelled with the name of a merchant. At the time, I visited RBL Water St Branch and was told by a manager that a computer glitch caused the issue and my account would soon rectify itself. That never happened and I was forced to make a complaint to the Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission. Even-tually, the disputed sum was returned to my account by RBL and an employee apologised for the issue.

Now the same thing has occurred again! RBL needs to invest some of its profit into addressing and improving its customer service which includes the banking facilities and technology used for the online platform. Also, what is the point of having contact numbers if nobody is going to answer the phones and why can’t employees including managers rectify simple issues such as mine? The information is right at their disposal. It is the norm to call the bank and if one is lucky, someone picks up but unfortunately that person cannot solve simple issues over the phone or even in person.  The entity that monitors the operations of banks needs to display greater competence because the public keeps getting subpar service with little to no improvement. Also, I don’t believe I am the only customer who has faced this particular problem. Given the usual complaints regarding online transactions there may be others. RBL needs to identify the issue and fix it promptly. It needs to take responsibility for its poor offering to its customers. Editor, I want Republic Bank to refund the money it took from my account without authorisation which includes the overdrawn account fee ASAP.

Sincerely,

Narissa Deokarran

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