Deborah Stewart (left), brand sales and marketing manager, Motor Sales and Service Limited, in lively banter with Patrick Hylton, group managing director, National Commercial Bank (NCB), and Olive McNaughton, marketing and sales manager at Euro Star Motors Limited, at a cocktail reception for auto dealer partners hosted by the bank. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer

Sacha Walters, Staff Reporter

The National Commercial Bank (NCB) thanked its car dealer partners for their successful six-year relationship with a cocktail reception at the NCB Wellness and Recreation Centre.

Courtney Campbell, general manager, retail banking division, boasted that the institution was the first to launch an auto loan, and since then the market has become competitive with others following suit.

But according to Patrick Hylton, group managing director, based on the increase in the number of car loans issued since the start of the year, the bank is adapting well to change. Last year, it issued 200 loans in contrast to the 500 approved from January to May this year.

This he attributed to the partnership with the auto dealers who have cars to sell, and they having loans to disburse. Additionally, the bank revamped its package last year, one of the changes being the extension of the repayment period from six to seven years.

But the formalities were short, as guests, who were invited to visit the bar, dug into Japanese cuisine provided by East Japanese Restaurant.