Republic Bank Ltd (RBL), the largest bank in T&T, has informed its customers that starting September 21, 2023, it will halve the maximum US dollar spending limit per billing cycle on their Republic Bank credit cards.

This means that the current limit of US$10,000 will be reduced to US$5,000.

The notice sent to customers, which was posted on RBL’s website, did not give any reason for the reduction, except that it will be until further notice.

The reduction in the US-dollar credit card limit will apply to all transactions conducted outside of T&T and all international online transactions, including those that use the TT dollar as the billing currency.

RBL customers need to know that these online transactions will be included in their US$5,000 billing cycle limit.

However, all local TT-dollar transactions conducted online or at merchants will remain unaffected.

Furthermore, RBL has also announced that it will be adjusting the limit on its pre-paid VTM card.

Effective October 1, 2023, the maximum VTM card balance will be reduced from US$5,000 to US$3,000.

Additionally, online VTM loads will be reduced from US$1,000 to US$500.

The bank’s decision to limit the amount of money that can be spent on foreign goods and services has sparked criticism on WhatsApp groups.

However, on July 21, RBL increased the daily transaction limit for point-of-sale and e-commerce transactions from $10,000 to $50,000. The bank explained that this means that transactions done at point-of-sale terminals and via e-commerce, when added together, can be as high as $50,000.

For instance, if a point-of-sale transaction is $10,000, then an e-commerce transaction can be as high as $40,000.

Meanwhile, Republic Financial Holdings Ltd (RFHL), the parent company of Republic Bank Ltd, reported a profit of $1.26 billion for the nine months ended June 30, 2023.

This figure represents a 10.2% increase from the previous financial year’s earnings.

RFHL operates throughout the region from the Cayman Islands in the north to Suriname in the south and in Ghana.

As of June 30, 2023, the bank holding company’s assets amounted to $114.4 billion.