Dear Editor,
I am a 63-year-old male Canadian citizen. My wife and I have been coming to St Maarten since 1996. We originally were spending 3 months a year on the island in timeshares, some owned, some exchanged for using RCI. Five years ago we decided to sign a long-term lease on an apartment in Phillipsburg.
We now spend six to seven months here every year. Three years ago we opened a bank account with RBC. We needed the account to pay GEBE, UTS, St. Maarten Cable and the landlord. Those are the only transactions recorded on the account for three years, approximately $25,000 per year. We also spend about $20,000 per year on food and entertainment in the form of cash and credit card.
In October the RBC decided to cancel/close our account because we are non-residents and do not own property. We applied for an account at WIB. After 6 weeks and countless documents sent, bank statements, copy of lease, reference letter, income tax returns, proof of property ownership in Canada and a personal income statement we were denied an account. They refused to give a reason. Others we know were also rejected and told it was because they were non-residents and did not own property in St Maarten.
After 21 years of loving St Maarten and spending more time here than anywhere else in the world we consider this our home. We were hurt by this event. More importantly, are we not exactly the type of people (tourists if you wish) the country of St Maarten needs at this time. We live here 6 months and contribute 45,000 US dollars to the economy.
We came back as soon after Irma as we could obtain a flight having to travel to the US because of cancelled Canadian flights. We wanted to get back to our home and help our friends/the island. The average citizen here is doing a fantastic job to help each other but behind the scenes the banks are driving us away. We represent just one of the hundreds of accounts that must have been closed.
We don’t want to leave. However, paying 6 months in advance with cash when I can only bring $10,000 per family on the plane and not having a bank account to transfer into is very problematic.
This can’t be in the best interest of SXM.
SXM Strong
