Jul 2017 Financial News

JMMB upgrades branches ahead of bank roll-out

Jul 07, 2017

JMMB Group is investing in upgrades to its branches to launch into commercial banking services while awaiting final sign-off on the licence from the regulator.

The licence will see the group's merchant banking arm transitioning to a commercial bank "on a phased basis" the company said via email.

There are 11 branch locations in the JMMB Group's local network. The company said "varying amounts of work have been undertaken at some of these branches, with more major renovation taking place at Haughton Terrace, Portmore, and Mandeville".

In Portmore, the branch is being expanded to provide "a broader array of services".

The cost of the upgrades to the full network were not disclosed.

JMMB Group Limited and its subsidiaries serve approximately 220,000 clients in Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and the Dominican Republic combined.

Last September, the Bank of Jamaica approved JMMB Merchant Bank's application to upgrade its existing licence to a commercial bank licence. This was the first step in the process of transitioning JMMB Merchant's operations.

JMMB Merchant was created by the rebranding of Capital & Credit Merchant Bank, a holding of the Capital & Credit Financial Group acquired by JMMB in 2012.

Under the upgrade project, JMMB Group wants to rebrand its branches as "financial life goal centres" to align with its client experience model of being a full-service financial services provider offering a full suite of financial solutions.

"While we are not able to reveal concrete time lines at this time regarding the completion of the transition process from merchant bank to commercial bank and the official launch of our commercial banking operations, immediate next steps are being implemented in keeping with the processes required to bring us to the point of readiness for commercial banking operations, and to meet all the necessary regulatory requirements ahead of our transition," the company said.

"It is anticipated that with the roll-out of commercial banking services, not only will we be able to provide additional products and services to our existing clients, but we will also attract new clients."

Source:
Avia Collinder
avia.collinder@gleanerjm.com
Jamaica Gleaner
Friday July 7, 2017

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20170707/jmmb-upgrades-branches-ahead-bank-roll-out