With the purpose of ensuring that residents and companies in Latvia’s regions can access Citadele Bank services as conveniently as possible, the bank has begun to visit those regions in Latvia where it does not have branches. These trips, which began on December 5, are being organised in partnership with the relevant local governments.
During the visits, consultants from the bank will offer residents and companies a chance to prepare all necessary documents to open a bank account and to access online banking services. This will allow them to submit instructions related to the payment of state-guaranteed compensation without having to visit a bank branch, and they will be allowed to indicate any account from any bank for that purpose. Citadele consultants will also offer information about the payment of the compensation and help those residents who have never used the Internet to deal with the payments in the online banking system.
Local residents will also be able to open a Citadele account at no charge, ask for online banking services and submit an application for a payment card. After five business days, when the card is ready, a Citadele consultant will deliver it to the client.
Businesses will have free access to a set of services for small businesses, which includes one or more payment accounts, the Maestro debit card, an online banking connection, one Digipass access apparatus, SMS banking services, as well as the opportunity to make payments in lats during the first six months within the Citadele system and in Latvia with no commission fee and for a sum of up to LVL 50,000.
The travelling consultants will not have the security and technologies needed to make cash payments or to provide for transfers, so that will not be possible. The instructions related to the state compensation can be submitted once the Citadele online banking services are hooked up.
Today Citadele consultants are in Alūksne, and future destinations will include Cesvaine on December 6, Valka on December 7, and Jaunpiebalga on December 8. Other towns which consultants plan to visit in the near future include Kuldīga, Mazsalaca, Smiltene, Dobele, Ape, Krāslava, Dagda, Lielvārde, and Sigulda.
The trips are being organised in partnership with local governments, and Citadele asks other local governments to inform the bank if they, too, would like a visit from a Citadele consultant so that agreement can be reached on when that might happen.