Barclays introduces banking call centre |29 April 2009

The call centre will give customers a centralised channel for all queries and feedback, with the aim of enhancing customer service levels.

Its aim is to help cut the time people now spend queuing up at ATMs and branches, seeking information that could be given over the telephone.

Customers wanting to use the call centre services should call 383939 and they will be connected to an agent who will help them with queries about products, services, exchange rates, interest rates, tariffs and charges.

People will also be able to get information about their accounts via the call centre but will have to go through a registration process first, designed to ensure a high level of security and ease of use.

The registration process is simple – all the customer needs to do is collect and fill out the registration form and return it to any branch in a sealed envelope. This will allow customers to enjoy extra services including account balance and transaction inquiries, asking for copies or changing the frequency of their statements, chequebook requests, fund transfers between accounts, confirmation of transactions, issuing stop payment instructions on cheques, blocking a lost or stolen card as well as checking the status of loans and overdraft applications.

This new service will initially cater for retail and corporate customers and will be extended to all other customers, including offshore clients.

Commenting on the move, Loganaden Sidambaram, managing director of Barclays Bank Seychelles said: “This is another step towards bringing banking closer to our customers, making us more accessible and easier to do business with.

“We are confident that this service will appeal to our customers and we will continue to review our services to make banking easier and more flexible.”

Barclays Bank Seychelles, part of the global Barclays Group, is the number one bank in Seychelles, offering retail banking, insurance referral, commercial banking products and services, including merchant services and offshore banking.

Employing 250 people, it handles more than 39,500 customer accounts through a network of 11 ATMs and six branches.