Tips on using
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Banking

There are two banks here in Portsmouth: Barclay’s Bank and the National Commercial Bank of Dominica. The perk about having an account with NCB is that there is an ATM on campus for customers--not so for Barclay’s customers. The downside of NCB is the interminable wait if you need to see a human teller. The NCB ATM is not networked and accesses only NCB accounts. When you open an account at one of the banks, remember to take your passport with you. The exchange rate is fixed at EC$2.67 to the U.S. dollar.

Bring a few Travelers' or Cashiers' checks with you, or plan to live on your credit card for a while. Electronic transfers of funds can be made, but they are expensive. It takes a while to transfer funds by slower means. The bank will not credit a personal check to your account until the check clears which may take six weeks. U.S. dollars are accepted from new students by most restaurants and the larger grocery stores, but they are not a substitute for Eastern Caribbean dollars.

Both banks open at 8 a.m. Monday through Thursday, Barclay's closes at 2 p.m. and NCB closes at 3 p.m. On Friday, both close at 5 p.m. Neither bank has weekend hours.