Interview with Daisy Carolus, Country Manager, Windward Islands Bank (WIB)

24 Jun Interview with Daisy Carolus, Country Manager, Windward Islands Bank (WIB)

Can we begin with an introduction to Windward Islands Bank (WIB) and its relationship with Maduro & Curiel’s Bank (MCB) in Curaçao and your network across Sint Maarten and the Dutch-speaking Caribbean?

MCB Group started as MCB Bank in Curaçao in 1916, before expanding to the other islands. Today, we have footprints in Bonaire, Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten and Sint Eustatius. We used to operate in Saba but now we only have Sint Eustatius. WIB opened its doors in 1960 and is the oldest indigenous bank in Sint Maarten. We form part of the MCB family. Our majority shareholder is the “family”, which includes the staff and we hold shares in the bank. Another big shareholder is Nova Scotia Bank in Canada, with 49 percent. Windward Island Bank was an island entity on its own, but in 2022 MCB Group decided that it had to simplify the legal structure by merging within MCB. The reason was because we shared the same regulators as the central bank, so it’s easier to put us together.

I run the bank independently with my team here. We have three branches and 22 ATMs on the island, as well as point-of-sale machines at several businesses, which makes banking more accessible for our customers, as does our online banking platform.

We are the biggest bank on the island and still number one, despite the strong competition. After 65 years, this is an accomplishment. Banking products have become a commodity all over the world, so there are not a lot of new services to offer. But our balance sheet is strong and that demonstrates prudent management of our assets and customer deposits, which gives our customers trust and confidence in the MCB Group, including WIB. We manage our bank our own way, but we are good at mitigating risk and we invest responsibly, so our clients trust us with their money.

What is your assessment of Sint Maarten’s digitization and its financial services and initiatives?

Sint Maarten is still a cash-friendly place which limits the penetration of digital banking services. Nonetheless, all banks on the island are starting to offer digital services and no bank on the island uses cheques any more. We are trying to make our clients more receptive to our digital initiatives. We are offering courses in how to use online banking for over-65s to give them the confidence to use online banking. We also provide courses in how our POSs and ATMs work, how they can change their PIN numbers and make transfers.

In October 2023 we unveiled a Mastercard debit card called Bankomatiko+ which replaced the Maestro card and the reaction amongst people has been great, because now they can use their debit card, which hadn’t been possible previously with the Maestro card. Now they can make online purchases, make hotel reservations and they can use it anywhere in the world, when they go on vacation.

A new currency is to be launched in 2025 jointly between Curaçao and Sint Maarten. How close are these two countries economically and what will be the benefit of the new currency? 

The two countries share the same regulator, but economically they are not that close to each other. The Windward Islands of Sint Maarten, Saba and Sint Eustatius are closer to each other logistically, so their economies are very similar. The Leeward Islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao are also close to each other. The change of the currency is not going to be a U-turn. It will become safer because they will have more security features so they cannot be duplicated or counterfeited. The exchange rate will be one to one and both are pegged to the US dollar, so nothing has changed in that respect.

It is going to have more of an impact on Curaçao because they use the Netherlands Antillean guilder more. In Sint Maarten, even though the base currency is Netherlands Antillean guilders we use dollars 80 percent of the time so this won’t be a huge change because we are not used to using the guilder anyway. A lot of cruise ships come here from the US — there were three just today — and they of course bring dollars with them, which contributes to the situation. Most people visiting from Europe stay on the French side, not the Dutch side, which creates a clear distinction between the two halves of the island in terms of currencies.

What are the key factors shaping the economy in the medium term and how is your bank navigating these factors?

Because Sint Maarten is so hilly, real estate is very expensive. We also have lots of people moving here from wealthy countries to buy property, which brings investors to the island, but it does push up property prices, especially for locals. To mitigate this situation, we provide loans to both residents and non-residents who want to buy property here. I believe the new government is going to stimulate the economy, but because they are so new we haven’t seen any results yet. Sint Maarten is very open to foreign investors. Americans can get residence permits quite easily. What we as a bank can do for the economy is to support these investors when they come in with our services, from online banking to loans and insurance.

With a global emphasis on environment, social and governance (ESG), how do you put these goals into practice in your own bank and what is their importance to the banking landscape as a whole?

The environmental side is very important to us. We provide loans with preferential rates for purchases of things like solar panels or electric cars. We have also partnered with a company called Green Dream to put recycle bins in all our buildings. We keep our employees informed about how to take care of the environment. During carnival season, we promoted our ESG message on the radio and on social media to make the public aware of waste recycling, particularly at carnival, which generates a lot of waste, as well as advising them on how to protect their ears from loud music and their skin from the sun.

We are also using energy-saving equipment at our branches, upgrading to LED lights, turning off lights and such like. On the social front, we have aligned ourselves with some of the UN sustainable development goals such as no poverty, access to healthcare and education. All the actions that we are doing need to fit into one of those SDGs. When it comes to governance, we create awareness among our clients about cybersecurity and the dangers of phishing. We do seminars to make people aware of the environment and how to govern their businesses.

What would be your final message for our readers about Sint Maarten? 

Sint Maarten is the jewel of the Caribbean. It is a unique place and I invite everyone to come and experience our island for themselves and make use of our 22 ATMs, our branches and enjoy our happy island. To investors I would say that their investments here are going to last a long time, because all the indicators are looking up.