WESTERN Union and Grace, Kennedy Remittance Services Limited (GKRSL) yesterday announced a new service that will allow Jamaicans living in New York to pay bills owed to the island’s three major utility companies.

The service, being operated through GKRSL’s Bill Express, is now accepting Cable & Wireless Jamaica Ltd, Jamaica Public Service Company, and National Water Commission payments at the Caribbean Outpost office at 887 Utica Avenue in Brooklyn, New York.

“Providing a cash-based utility payment option for Jamaicans living in New York is meeting the demand of a large customer base,” a GKRSL news release quoted Bill Express manager Michael McNaughton. “We continue to seek ways to offer greater convenience for all of our customers.”

According to McNaughton, expansion of the services allows GKRSL to give priority to its customers’ needs. “Customers appreciate this new payment option because it’s quick, easy and convenient and it offers control,” he said.

Grace, Kennedy Remittance Services Limited is the local agent for Western Union Financial Services Inc, a subsidiary of Denver, Colorado-headquartered First Data Corp, which serves three million merchant locations, 1,400 card issuers and millions of consumers.

First Data’s services allow its customers to buy goods and services, using virtually any form of payment: credit, debit, smart card, stored-value card or cheque at the point-of-sale, over the Internet or by money transfer.

Since it was established 13 years ago, Grace, Kennedy Remittance Services Ltd has grown considerably, expanding into Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and sharing in a management contract in Haiti.