1st National Bank celebrated its 85th anniversary with a huge Thanksgiving event last week that provided Saint Lucians with yet another opportunity to become homeowners amongst other attractive offers.
The bank launched three campaigns on the Derek Walcott Square as part of a yearlong celebration, starting with its signature 100 percent finance mortgage promotion.
According to Solomon Emmanuel, Senior Manager of Corporate Banking, 1st National was the first bank to introduce this offer when the bank celebrated its 80th anniversary five years ago.
“Eighty-five Saint Lucians with the dream of owning a home will have the opportunity to qualify for the no deposit… mortgage financing. Again, this is in keeping with our commitment to Saint Lucians who desire full independence through home ownership,” Emmanuel said at a press event last Saturday.
“We’re thankful for 85 years of amazing success. This is a remarkable feat for an indigenous bank. It could not have happened without the confidence of the Saint Lucians who trusted us for over eight decades,” Emmanuel added.
As part of its celebrations, the bank also introduced a Switch Mortgage Campaign.
“The first 85 Saint Lucians successfully taking advantage of this offer will benefit from interest rates as low as 4.25 percent. There will be no negotiation fees and payments of legal fees of up to $20,000 will be taken care of by the bank,” Emmanuel said.
The Switch Campaign and 100 Percent Finance Mortgage Promotion were launched at the bank’s Used Car Showcase, the latter, being the main event.
“The main point here is engaging clients (and) ensuring that customers could speak with us and we could provide personalized packages for any type of vehicle that they require. We came with a large number of vehicles and the purpose was to allow customers to realize that we’re not just a one stop shop. We’re into all different models, styles and packages,” Donald Dorius, Managing Director of DD’s Auto Imports said.
“We’ve been around for close to 29 years and we’re happy about that because we’ve engaged customers from all walks of life (and) we cater for all the different markets. Because of the collaboration with 1st National Bank, we made it our duty to ensure that we give special offers on our vehicles,” he added.
Opening its doors for business in January 1938 in a humble Mongiraud Street back store, 1st National is at the heart of commercial banking in St. Lucia offering a suite of products and services tailored to the needs of customers. The bank remains fiercely loyal to the philosophy of its founding fathers.
So, what does the future hold for the bank and its customers?
According to Managing Director Fletcher St. Jean, “We want to show that we’re extending our digital footprint. We want to extend our ATM usage throughout the island, we want to extend our POS machines to small businesses; we are operating as a true indigenous bank (and) we want to keep on building relationships (and) partnerships. In the years to come, we want to be known as the number one bank here in Saint Lucia and in the St Vincent market.”
“We are here in 2023 ready to close an amazing year… we are approaching a 1.8-billion-dollar bank moving from 900 million dollars just a few years ago and it is the reason why we are one of the fastest growing banks in Saint Lucia. That is not by chance. We want to commend the amazing management team, all of our staff (and) the Board of Directors for setting clear policies that we can (be) able to accomplish the task of where we are right now,” St. Jean said.