Gibere celebrates 40yrs of service

BANK teller Karimo Gibere, celebrating 40 years of service in the industry, has told of the many changes he had witnessed over the years.
“There is a lot of product transformation, (such as) the opening of accounts,” he said.
“During my time, we used a ledger card to create that.
“It’s different now.
“Everything is automated.”
Father-of-four Gibere, 61, also a grandfather to four children, is the Kina Bank head teller at its Boroko branch in Port Moresby.
The Kikori man from Gulf began his career at the ANZ Bank in 1992 straight out of college.
“I started with the ANZ Bank Boroko branch on Jan 4, 1982, as an enquiry clerk,” he said.
“I was 21, very excited, and straight out of college.
“We used ledger cards to serve our customers.
“We used a simple manual system arranged in alphabetical order.
“It was fun stacking those ledger cards, although it took a lot of teamwork and effort to make sure our customers were served.
“As years went by, I started witnessing changes in the bank.
“We saw computers.
“They were basic but did half of the work.
“I was excited because of this innovation.”
Gibere loves serving customers, and has become the face of the branch, dealing with enquiries and assisting in opening new accounts and other tasks.
“I moved to (become) a teller where I got to learn about deposits and withdrawals, all the nitty-gritty stuff of banking,” he said.
“Later, I was moved to bills and overseas payments, and eventually to sales and services – opening of accounts and handling international telegraphic transfers and dealing with exports and imports.
“It was fun.”
Gibere remembers having to work late because of the manual system then.
“‘The most challenging part during that time was working until 7pm or 8 pm because of the manual system,” he said.
“Fast forward to this day, a click of a finger and the job is done.”
His bosses and colleagues recently watched him cut a cake to celebrate his long-service achievement.