The Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ), a state-owned bank, plans to launch a mobile money pilot project in partnership with unspecified microfinance institutions (MFIs) in April 2013. According to Yvonne Lewars, DBJ’s general manager of institutional strengthening and project management, “We expect that the project will allow the use of mobile money as an entry point for the ‘unbanked and under banked’ to formal financial services, reduce the cost of micro transactions and give [MFIs] and their customers more flexibility in their lending and payment options.” Services to be provided through this project include: remote access to account information, fund transfers and retail transactions. The pilot stage of the project, entitled Mobile Money for Microfinance (M3), is expected to last one year. Regulators plan to use the results as a guide in developing policies for mobile money practices nationwide.
Additional partners in the effort include Transcel Limited, a Jamaican software firm, and the National Commercial Bank (NCB), a bank owned by the government of Jamaica. NCB will be acting as a deposit holding facility while Transcel will consult on mobile financial services technology. Transcel recently partnered with Alaric, a UK-based supplier of fraud prevention solutions, to monitor M3 transactions for fraudulent activity. According to Milverton Reynolds, DBJ’s managing director, “The involvement of a company such as Alaric, whose payments and transactional security products are used by some of the largest financial services companies in the world, gives us confidence that the transactions on the M3 platform will be safe and free from fraud. This will pave the way for all parties to confidently embrace the convenience and cost-effectiveness of mobile financial services – with all the spin-off benefits to business, consumers and the economy as a whole.”
As of 2011, DBJ reported total assets of JMD 49 billion (USD 518 million). As of September 2012, NCB reported total assets of JMD 379 billion (USD 4 billion). Information regarding the finances and number of clients of Transcel and Alaric is unavailable.
By Lena Phillips, Research Associate
About The Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ)
Owned by the government of Jamaica, DBJ is mandated to foster the growth of “strategic” economic industries in the country with a special emphasis on developing the micro-, small and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) sector. DBJ was formed in 2000 as a result of the merger of the Agricultural Credit Bank of Jamaica and the National Development Bank of Jamaica Limited. In 2006, DBJ merged again with the National Investment Bank of Jamaica. As of 2011, DBJ reported total assets of JMD 49 billion (USD 518 million).
About Transcel Limited
Transcel is a Jamaica-based limited liability company offering software technology services within the Caribbean. The firm is active in mobile microfinance in Jamaica and seeks to offer cross-border, person-to-person money transfers throughout the Caribbean. Transcel’s co-founder and managing director, Hugo Daley, previously founded the US-based information technology company Isadra. Since 2010, Transcel has been working with the Development Bank of Jamaica to provide mobile money services in the country resulting in a pilot of Mobile Money for Microfinance (M3) that is to be rolled out during 2013. The aim of the pilot is to extend financial services to Jamaica’s un- and under-banked. Financial data on Transcel are unavailable.
Sources and Additional Resources:
Data provided to MicroCapital from the Development Bank of Jamaica.
Alaric Press Release: “Alaric Technology Underpins Jamaican Mobile Money Launch,” http://www.alaric.com/news-and-events/alaric-technology-underpins-jamaican-mobile-money-launch/
MicroCapital.org Article, 29 January 2013: “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: National Commercial Bank, Development Bank of Jamaica Partner to Allow Microborrowers to Access Loan Funds Via Automatic Banking Machines,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-national-commercial-bank-development-bank-of-jamaica-partner-to-allow-microborrowers-to-access-loan-funds-via-automatic-banking-machines/
Alaric, http://www.alaric.com/
MicroCapital Universe Profile: Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ), https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Development+Bank+of+Jamaica+%28DBJ%29
MicroCapital Universe Profile: Transcel Limited, https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Transcel+Limited
Do you know that MicroCapital publishes the MicroCapital Monitor newspaper each month? Find out more at https://www.microcapital.org/products-page/
Similar Posts:
- MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Mobile Money, Interoperability and Financial Inclusion;” by Markus K Brunnermeier et al; published by National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: I&M Bank Enables Spenn Mobile App Users to Send Money to Financial Institutions Across Rwanda
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fintech Kacha Gets Regulator Approval to Roll Out Mobile Money App in Ethiopia
- MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: UNCDF, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Launch Mobile Money Program in Ethiopia
- MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Driving Digital Financial Services in Africa Through Merchant Acceptance of Digital Payments,” published by Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI)
