KINGSTON, Jamaica— Scotiabank, yesterday, officially unveiled its newly redesigned and renovated flagship branch in downtown Kingston.

The bank said the redesigned building represented a $1.5 billion investment in the new, ultra-modern banking facility.

During the opening ceremony, the bank also unveiled its new Premium and Corporate & Commercial Banking Centres – located on the second floor of its headquarters.

Prime Minister Honourable Andrew Holness, who was present at the ceremony, congratulated the Scotia Group on the successful completion and reopening of the branch, which he hailed as a “forward thinking and progressive move.”

“The vision to overhaul the traditional transactional nature of banking halls and to transform them into hubs of financial empowerment for customers will promote financial inclusion – a necessary measure for Jamaica to improve productivity and efficiency,” Holness said.

“It is essential for Jamaicans to embrace digital technology and digital commerce and in doing so, the first step is to own a bank account,” he added.

According to Scotiabank, a key feature of the new branch is an expanded ABM Zone with seven intelligent deposit machines where customers can make deposits, activate and PIN new cards, pay loans, transfer funds and even purchase US dollars in a safe, well-lit, self-contained area 24 hours per day.

Another new feature is the Social Zone outfitted with iPads to allow interested customers to conduct transactions and learn how to use digital banking.

Both incoming and current CEO’s of the  100-year-old bank were also in attendance and gave insights on the strategy that informed the new branch and corporate office design.

David Noel, who has served in the bank’s most senior leadership role since 2017, shared that “the significant investment in the branch headquarters is a key signal that the bank remains committed to Jamaica as one of the key markets in our global bank”.

He also highlighted that the physical transformation of its office spaces is complemented by a new internal cultural shift for the bank’s employees.

“We also made significant investments in our head office facility adopting an Activity Based Work philosophy which offers our staff the flexibility to choose work settings based on the nature of the work they are doing at any given time,” he explained.

The bank said the updates will promote both collaboration and efficiency and this is expected to drive greater productivity and improve its ability to deliver quality service to customers.

Audrey Tugwell Henry, within her capacity as Executive Vice President, Retail Banking, said the bank’s role in helping Jamaica transition to a more digital society.

“We are changing our processes across the entire Scotia Group to make things simpler and more convenient. Next year we will be launching several new features to our online platforms and introducing new products to the market,” she said.

“Over the past few years, the banking landscape has changed significantly and we have been very focused on ensuring that we make the right investments to allow us to meet our customers’ changing needs. We set ourselves the audacious goal of building a bank for the future and redefining what a branch should be,” she added.

Tugwell Henry also noted that under her new remit in 2021, the flagship branch will be a catalyst for further improvements across the bank’s network.