ANZ commended staff and bid community farewell at ceremony last Friday

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — ANZ Amerika Samoa Bank closed its doors this past Friday after serving the people of American Samoa for over 20 years.

At the farewell ceremony on Friday, Regional Country Head of ANZ Guam and American Samoa, Clarke Schaumann said it is a season of sadness.

“I can say with honesty I represent the employees here and say that departing the Island was not met with any sense of anything but gratitude, a bit of sadness and some hope for the next steps.

“One thing I may say about banking in America Samoa and one of the things we learned as we distributed about $185 million dollars over the last six months back to the residents of American Samoa — those funds were distributed to a wide variety of banks so when those funds are disturbed by a wire or ACH we can see where we're going to send the money…

“What I can say is there's a wide variety and diversity of both banks and credit unions that are serving and presently serving the residents of American Samoa.

“And that brings a bit of solace if I might say that with ANZ’s departure, we can see that there's an abundance of banking services being provided, both from online banks and might I say through the great presence of the Territorial Bank of American Samoa." 

Adding that the lasting impression he hopes that ANZ leaves on this island is that they were here to support some of the largest infrastructure projects on the Island.

 “We were here for a time to provide whole loans to the island and we were here to provide both personal lending, but most importantly we were here to provide a very safe and secure place for people to put their money." 

He also acknowledged the ANZ staff for their hard work and dedication to providing service that has been unwavering and unfiltered through this time of transition.

"And I believe it's because they're dedicated to the residents here and they're dedicated to excellence. One thing that I hope that ANZ leaves in their hearts, is what we call the ‘I care values’  — the values of integrity, of collaboration, accountability, respect and of excellence.

"I could see it in their eyes, I could see it that will go with them into their next roles of serving this island; whether it be through private enterprises or through roles within the Government," said Schaumann.

He said for 21 years ANZ did what they could to run parallel banking systems, however their services have come to an end. 

Chairman of the House Banking Committee Rep, Samuel Meleisea spoke on behalf of the Fono and read the House Concurrent Resolution approved by the Legislative Assembly to commend ANZ-ASB's distinguished service to the Territory.