“Generation y” won’t know what a pass book is but, long before there was electronic banking, wire transfers and Automated Teller Machines (ATM), banks dispensed trusty palm-sized ruled books in which their customer’s transactions, deposits or withdrawals, were painstakingly entered, manually, by bank clerks.

That was the system in use when a young Clovis Metcalfe began his career in banking as a teller in 1964, moving up the ladder to loan disbursement officer and collections supervisor at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), within four years. It was an era in which he learnt about the paramouncy of the bank/customer relationship, the value of mutual trust and confidence.

It was “hands on all the way” he recalls with his trademark enthusiasm, explaining: “we did everything for the customer – preparation of importation documentation, clearance of goods, bills of laden, invoices. In those days, customers would ship goods and assign them to us. Overseas companies would in turn send goods through their Bank to us to ensure trade collection payments.”

Clovis rose through CIBC over 24 years with continuous promotions that saw him serving as Assistant Manager at King and Harbour Streets at the “Jamaicanized” CIBC Jamaica Limited by 1976; Manager of the Duke & Law Street branch by 1978 and Manager CIBC Half Way Tree by 1980, before being named the Bank’s first senior manager corporate banking on formation of the Corporate Division in 1988.

Then, as CIBC Jamaica transitioned in 2002 into FirstCaribbean International Bank, Clovis was named head of corporate banking and in 2009, he took the top chair as managing director.

Much has changed in the world of banking in that 46-year journey and Clovis says it’s this dynamic, development that has kept him interested and challenged in his life-long career.

He recalls the days when customers came to the bank, a far cry from today’s competitive environment that sees banks targeting and actively courting customers. He marvels at the “wide suite of products offered today as against the limited range of yesteryear’s – consumer loans, commercial loans, deposits.” But it is technology-driven banking that Clovis says has brought the most visible and impactful changes, in his estimation.

He recalls “we used to spend hours writing up ledgers and if you made one mistake, you would spend even more time trying to correct it. Now we have the convenience and sophistication of products like debit and credit cards, wire transfers and telephone and internet banking. But, even as ‘new banking’ with its automated systems has made daily communication far more convenient for many customers, at FirstCaribbean we still offer a liberal dose of good old face to face service.”

“We recognize”, he says, that different people prefer to do their banking in different ways. Our goal, is to make as wide a range of options as possible available to our customers. So, modern technology notwithstanding, for those who prefer to speak to someone in person about a major financial decision, FirstCaribbean lends a listening ear.”

Clovis says that one of the most energizing aspects of banking over the past 46 years has been keeping apace with new trends. He notes that “the biggest banks in the industrialized world have become complex financial organizations offering a wide variety of services to international markets and controlling billions of dollars in cash and assets,” and forecasts that “with further globalization, consolidation, deregulation and diversification of the financial industry, the banking sector will become even more complex.”

In that regard, Clovis says, “FirstCaribbean is in a good place. Top of game in commercial and investment banking, including underwriting of securities, portfolio management, asset securitization, mergers, acquisitions, corporate restructuring, bond underwriting, equity private placements and placement of debt securities with institutional investors.”

Clovis Metcalfe is also “in a good place” as he prepares for retirement later this year. He is well pleased at the progress of the industry, and particularly, his bank, FirstCaribbean International.