Two giants in their respective fields of business National Bank of Anguilla Ltd (NBA) and Lime have teamed up to further ease top up services to their customers.

NBA and LIME's staff

At a Launching and Contract Signing Ceremony on Tuesday August 25, the two presented Anguilla with an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) Electronic Top Up system where Lime prepaid customers can add time to (Top Up) their cell phones using any one of the NBA ATM outlets with a valid ATM card or credit card.

NBA Market Research and Business Development Support Officer Deslyn Smith noted that, over the years, NBA strategically placed a network of ATMs throughout Anguilla including the innovative the NBA Mobile ATM. She said Lime was able to capitalise on this strategy to develop the ATM E-Top Up initiative that was some two to three years in the making.

Smith stated that the NBA-Lime ATM E-Top Up was the first of its kind in the Leeward Islands. She pointed out that Jamaica and the Cayman Islands were the only other Caribbean Islands to offer that service.

NBA Chief Corporate Officer Selwyn Horsford expressed his delight at the success of the ATM E-Top Up project. “I don’t think there is anybody around here who would be more happy…to see this project come through,” he said.

The concept of providing E-Top Up at an ATM was developed during discussions between former Vice President Sales and Mobile of the then Cable and Wireless, Lester Foreman, and Officers of NBA. Mr. Horsford conceded that the process of developing the top up system took “longer than we expected but with a lot of hard work and dedication and a lot of ‘technical stuff’….[it was] finally completed.”

Horsford remarked that the goal of his bank in this initiative was to provide “better and improved services” to both Lime and NBA customers. He hoped that customers would see the advantage of using the facility to top up their phones. He further hoped that customers of other banks who are Lime customers would also take advantage of the service.

Mr. Mark Romney and Mr Selwyn Horsford signing agreement

Horsford explained that Lime mobile phone users would be able to access any of the Bank’s 10 fixed ATMs and the Mobile ATM to top up 24 hours a day. He said the instructions are in English and Spanish and the service was easy to use. He further explained that the minimum top up was EC$5 and the Maximum was EC$200. He said it would be the customers’ responsibility to enter the correct phone numbers and top up amounts. The system would assist by asking for verification of the phone number and amount.
Horsford commented that the collaboration between the two companies demonstrated what cooperation could accomplish. He said both companies stood to gain because of their desire to work together.
The Chief Corporate Officer thanked the various departments and agencies that worked together to make the facility a reality. He singled out Cardigan Richardson of NBA for his “hard work.”
General Manager of Lime Mark Romney referred to the launching as a “historic moment for both companies” and to the partnership as “strategic.” He said it would add more value to the many customers in Anguilla.
Romney stated that NBA had been at the forefront of the Banking Community in developing products or services to assist Lime customers and, by extension, the entire community of Anguilla. He recalled the launch of Tele-banking and online banking.
The Telecommunications Company Head took the opportunity to assure customers that, as part of Lime’s Go Green initiative, customers could pay their bills online through a facility such as the NBA Debit Card on the NBA website as well as a site that Lime was developing.
To commemorate the launch, Lime offered its prepaid customers a one-day special comprising free minutes: when a customer topped up through an ATM throughout the day, they received 50 percent bonus credit. The company advised its customers of this through its SMS text service. Mr. Romney said that in the future the ATM E-Top Up service would carry other benefits similar to Tuesday’s bonus. He commented that Lime endeavoured to make services easier and more convenient.
Romney ended by expressing his delight in the partnership with NBA. He was confident there were more initiatives that the two businesses could undertake together. “It just goes to show, even though we are local, we think regional and we do in fact think International,” he said.

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