Scotiabank executives in the Caribbean today applauded the government of The Bahamas for selecting LIME, the Cable & Wireless Caribbean division of the telecom pioneer, as BTC’s privatization partner, claiming the company had assisted with a major transformation of the bank’s infrastructure and its “commitment to delivering on their promises was extraordinary.”
Scotia’s words came even as industrial unrest – a union-organised response to recent news that the government would sell 51% of BTC to Cable & Wireless Caribbean for $210 million – interrupted service throughout New Providence and shut down BTC offices for hours. BTC issued a statement advising the public to limit its calls to BTC to emergency calls. The news seemed to take customers like Scotia in other countries by surprise.
“When we heard that LIME is contemplating the acquisition of BTC, we immediately envisioned this as a good thing for the Bahamas,” said Rose-Marie Pilliner, Executive Vice President, Shared Services & Operations, Caribbean North Hub, Scotiabank. “We have been very pleased with the transition we’ve seen in their management of our account in recent times. The account team that works on the Bank Of Nova Scotia Jamaica Ltd. account gets it. They understand the importance that communication plays in the sustainability of our business and have been consistently professional, focused on our business and responsive to our day-to-day needs.”
Pilliner said Scotiabank considers C&W a strong partner, advancing the bank’s business. “The improved alignment has turned them into true business partners as has been evident in more proactive recommendations of innovate solutions to some of our business challenges,” said the executive vice president.
“Further, about 12 months ago we underwent a major implementation transforming the Bank’s communication infrastructure in Jamaica and not only was this completed seamlessly, their commitment to delivering on their promises was extraordinary. We expect that they will bring this level of attention and capacity to BTC and in general we believe this will be good for businesses in the Bahamas.”
LIME, with $3.4 billion in assets, currently operates in 13 countries in the Caribbean.
