S U N D AY S U N S P E C I A L | M AY 2 9 , 2 0 11 | 9
KAREN WHARTON, Regional Manager, Caribbean Card Services. (RC)
IN TODAY’S modern day of banking, Card Centres play a key role in the operations of any bank. That’s one reason why Karen Wharton’s role as Regional Manager, Caribbean Card Services, is crucial to the services provided by RBC Royal Bank (Barbados) Limited and RBTT Bank. She is responsible for all credit and debit card operations in the region – which comprises Barbados, The Bahamas, Cayman Islands, and six other countries. Wharton also oversees the strategic placing of credit and debit card machines at businesses across the island, and their distribution through the Card Centres; one of which is located in Barbados, and the other in The Bahamas. She also decides on where the Automated Teller Machines (ATM’s) are placed. Her team of 17 at RBC Royal Bank (Barbados) Limited also answers all queries and concerns relating to credit and debit cards and sees after the actual production of these cards. They also issues VISA Card here in Barbados, and MasterCard in the Eastern Caribbean. She recognises the importance of providing excellent service to each client, as one of the bank’s key goals. “RBC is focussed on service and making both the internal and external customer happy. Added to this is meeting the financial needs of both customers,” explains Wharton, who entered the banking arena in 1999 as a management trainee for Barclays Bank PLC. A graduate of Harrison College, and Lebanon Valley College in the United States, where she studied International Business, Spanish and French, Wharton, who is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, is currently completing studies for her MBA with the University of Wales.
ONE OF THE key changes within the banking environment over the years, has been the creation of excellent customer service. That’s the view of vice-president Sales and Service support, and RBC Royal Bank and RBTT, Glenda Davis-Holder According to her, “There was a time when banks were seen as places to exchange, deposit and withdraw money. In today’s banking world, we are selling services and products. This calls for understanding our clients and their needs, and meeting those needs. It also calls for creating excellent service.” A graduate of St Leonard’s Girl’s School, Davis-Holder supports, advises and coaches RBC Royal Bank’s and RBTT’s 13 sales managers; with a focus on increasing their skills and knowledge as sales leaders. She also places great emphasis on sharing sales programmes, which position the banks to deliver a unique client experience to customers. This involves her sharing different sales
tools to enhance their interaction with customers. Davis-Holder, who holds a Degree in Human Resource Management from the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, has spent 31 years in banking. She first worked as a customer service representative with Barclays Bank PLC, and later in such capacities as a teller, supervisor, customer service, and bank manager. She has also performed sales management functions, and has implemented sales programmes across the Barclays Bank group. After 24 years with Barclays Bank, she joined First Caribbean Bank – following the merger of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) and Barclays Bank PLC. She worked as project manager, Training, and was responsible for the First Caribbean Bank’s mentorship and sales effectiveness programme. Davids-Holder joined RBTT in May 2009.
OPERATIONS RISK ADVISOR, Veronica Eversley, is part of a team of four operations risk advisors within the RBC Royal Bank group in the Caribbean. She is the only one located in Barbados. She provides advice and coaching to employees at RBC branches in Barbados, St Lucia, Antigua, St Kitts, Dominica, The Bahamas and Montserrat, as they relate to the bank’s established operational policies. While her office is located at RBC Royal Bank’s main office in Bridgetown, Eversley reports directly to her manager, who is based in Nassau, Bahamas. She received her secondary education at The St Michael School, and
holds a Diploma in Management from Cave Hill School of Business and a Degree in Literatures in English (Special) – Upper Second Class Honours, from the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus Her many years’ experience in banking at RBC, where she started as a proof machine operator, has seen her fulfilling such roles as foreign exchange trader, customer service officer; supervisor central checking; senior audit clerk, and collection realisation officer, among others. According to her, she is impressed with the changes over the years from manual to automated processing
GLENDA DAVIS-HOLDER, Vice President, Sales and Service Support. (RC)
VERONICA EVERSLEY, Operations Risk Advisor, RBC Royal Bank, (Barbados Limited) and the Eastern Caribbean. (RC) particularly as they relate to the clearing systems for cheques. The “real time” processing of cheques has evolved, and we can provide faster service to our clients,” she says.