By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

Spanish Wells residents were yesterday said to be “elated” that Commonwealth Bank has confirmed it will open a branch on the island, filling the vacuum left by Royal Bank of Canada’s (RBC) pull-out.    

Robert Roberts, chief councillor for Spanish Wells, told Tribune Business: “Everyone is elated. The icing on the cake is that they are Bahamian-owned and that money is not going back to Canada. People continually bring that up.”

Commonwealth Bank confirmed in a statement yesterday that its Board of Directors had approved opening a branch in Spanish Wells.

“I am very pleased to say that, as we have been sending our project management team to the island, Commonwealth Bank has been widely and warmly welcomed by the Spanish Wells community,” said president Ian Jennings.

“This move to Spanish Wells increases our presence to four islands, and we look forward to serving the Spanish Wells community as we do so. We will announce more details as our planning and contractual arrangements crystallise.”

The Spanish Wells branch will be Commonwealth Bank’s first new location since it opened its Prince Charles Drive branch in September 2009.  The bank has branches in New Providence, Grand Bahama and Abaco, and some 6,000 shareholders and 500 staff members.

Last month RBC, which acts as the Government’s banker, unveiled plans to close four branches, including Bimini and Spanish Wells, with the other two being its locations at Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) in Nassau and Treasure Cay.

RBC told Tribune Business that all four branches will be consolidated with remaining locations, starting with the Treasure Cay branch, which was merged with Marsh Harbour on April 7, 2017.

That will be followed by the LPIA branch’s consolidation with RBC’s Cable Beach operation on May 19, with the Bimini and Spanish Wells locations to be merged with Freeport and Harbour Island, respectively, on May 26 and June 23. The announcement triggered an ‘uproar’ in the Bimini and Spanish Wells communities.

“Right now, there is a great big sigh of relief that the community, and particularly  the older persons, will be able to cash their cheques,” Mr Roberts added.

“We will be able to have a physical presence here as we have businesses here doing a fair amount of cash sales. They will no longer have to going to Harbour Island.”

Mr Roberts said the lines to open new accounts at Commonwealth Bank were “pretty good”. “They are opening accounts for sure,” he added of residents. “It’s good news. People were really turned off by the fact that RBC would close that abruptly.”