Kibkom North Cyprus Forum

Some staff speak english but I don't think the manageress does. The rates are on par with others. I don't like the fact that some locals go behind the counter to get served whilst I sit and wait with my ticket. The one thing that really gets to me is the ATM machine is always out of order wnich means I have to drive 10km to another bank that has card plus which are always working.

We find the bank staff both efficient and helpful. I agree that the ATM machine is sometimes out of order but we retail sufficient cash to avoid this being a problem. We are very content with the bank and have now closed our account with the Garantee Bank where we got tired of queuing.

Incidentally, what are the interest rates these days on deposit accounts i.e. one month notice deposits?

I used Limasol bank for some eight years including use of the Alsancak branch until Dec 2012 when I closed the account. Until the latter few months the service was fine though it was never possible to bank cheques at Alsancak only draw cash and pay utility bills there. Cheques paid in for credit had to be taken by me to the main branch in Girne. Cheques paid in were credited after 21 working days so effectively took 4 weeks to clear. Over a period of four months or so towards the end of 2012 these credits took 6 weeks, 7 weeks, 8 weeks and finally 9 weeks to clear and their explanation was that they had changed their sorting bank in Turkey (citing I believe Guarantee Bank). I closed the account. I too experienced waiting whilst locals went behind the counter for preferential treatment until I asked one of them if they knew how to play snooker and if so get in the queue/cue ! Overall the staff there were very helpful and pleasant though if the factors I have mentioned would cause you difficulties you may wish to make checks to see if these areas of their service have improved before you make a commitment.

It seems that the time it takes to clear cheques might have to do with the sorting bank in Turkey, as Iktisatbank used to take 4 weeks and has gradually gone up to 8 weeks.