BRIDGETOWN, November 27, 2008. THE OISTINS BRANCH of FirstCaribbean International Bank recently celebrated the 100th birthday of Ermine Barrow-Burgess who may very well be the oldest customer of a bank in Barbados still handling her own personal transactions.

The very alert centenarian of Fairholme Gardens, Christ Church, celebrated her 100th Birthday on November 17th, and staff and management of the Oistins Branch where she has kept her personal account since 1986, got together during their recent Customer Appreciation Day to celebrate with her.

Customer Service Manager, Stephanie Broome presented Barrow-Burgess with a token of appreciation on behalf of the FirstCaribbean family and Branch Manager, Patrick Bellamy paid tribute to the bank’s oldest customer noting that there was some correlation between the blessing of long life and longstanding customer loyalty and service.

“We at the Oistins Branch of FirstCaribbean are extremely happy to have the opportunity to celebrate this special occasion with our oldest customer. This is a celebration of the longevity of life which is a wonderful blessing, but also of the longevity of customer service and the loyalty that this special customer has demonstrated. We commend her and wish her many more birthdays for years to come,” Bellamy stated.

The Branch Manager further noted that the kind of customer loyalty shown was highly commendable in today’s competitive environment, adding that despite having assistance, Barrow-Burgess maintained a keen interest in coming personally to the bank to complete her transactions.

Looking back on her more than two decades banking with the Oistins Branch which date back to its days as a branch of CIBC, Barrow-Burgess, a former Headmistress of the St. George Girls School, expressed her gratitude to management and staff for the service they continued to extend to her. She visits the Oistins Branch at least once a month accompanied by family member Trudy Boyce.