FAIRVIEW, St James – National Commercial Bank (NCB) Financial Group last Thursday officially opened its NCB Banking & Financial Services Centre in Fairview, St James.

In July 2016, the bank acquired over 20,000 square feet of land to construct what has been described as “an ultra-modern branch that will be a model for other branches.”

“What we are seeing here today is a most modern, futuristic, warm, accommodating building that is designed to serve the needs of our customers,” said NCB chairman Michael Lee-Chin.

Lee-Chin, who also praised his team, led by president and group CEO Patrick Hylton, for their vision, added, “… in fact I said to Paula Kerr-Jarrett (attorney-at-law), you have travelled all over the world; have you seen a branch of any bank in the world that looks like this? I never have. And, in another life, we are the largest shareholder of many of the largest banks in the world, including TD (Toronto-Dominion) Bank, and I have never seen a branch like this. So, I am proud that this could be happening in Jamaica.”

The newly constructed Fairview structure, which facilitates the relocation of the outgrown Baywest branch in the downtown area of Montego Bay, has also been described as “an intelligent and environmentally friendly building, the first of its kind.”

“This afternoon we are celebrating the formal opening of our flagship Fairview Banking & Financial Services Centre. I am fully confident that this building design could qualify for the LEED Gold Standard. LEED refers to Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, which is a rating system devised by the United States Green Building Council to evaluate the environmental performance of a building and encourage market transformation towards a sustainable design,” said a pleased Dr Rickert Allen, senior general manager for the Group Human Resources and Facilities Division.

The facility utilises a building management system that remotely monitors and controls functions such as intelligent lighting, air conditioning and occupancy sensors.

The building itself is also energy efficient with a 60-kw photovoltaic power generation system, which will offset 20 per cent of the building’s energy usage.

“As a corporate citizen, we are also pleased to note that our strategic intent aligns with sections of the governor general’s throne speech delivered a few weeks ago, which made reference to the soon-to-be-implemented Energy Management and Efficiency Programme (EMEP) managed through the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology, aimed at reducing electricity consumption and carbon dioxide emission in public sector facilities,” added Dr Allen.

Dr Allen noted that, “this contemporary design establishes the benchmark for all NCB properties of the future and will provide NCB with a competitive differentiator; save energy arid resources, thereby reducing operating costs; optimise organisational health; and provide an environment that will enhance our customer engagement consistent with one of the pillars of our Day One mantra, which we refer to as customer obsession.”

The National Commercial Bank currently has 38 branches and a leading market share of 44 per cent.

It was reported in January that the bank had recorded a profit of $4.6 billion for the quarter ending in December of last year.