KRIS An Charles Investment company will relocate its corporate office next week in a move the microfinance company says will pave the way for it to facilitate a growing market for commercial borrowers.

The company is consolidating its Kingston -based corporate and loans divisions, at 6 Eureka Crescent and 15a Old Hope Road, respectively, into a single facility it bought at 2 Eureka Crescent. It will facilitate the planned October launch of a new unit dedicated to business clients at 6 Eureka.

“While we always had business loans, we found the need now to expand on the operation,” Gail Dixon, general manager of Kris An Charles, told Sunday Finance.

“With the way the economy is in Jamaica, and persons losing their jobs, a lot of entrepreneurs are out there now, and we are trying to meet their needs,” she said.

In addition to established small businesses needing money to facilitate cash flow, Kris An Charles’ corporate client base includes farmers, vendors and shopkeepers, Dixon said.

According to the Kris An Charles executive, business loans are more risky than personal loans.

“You only have an issue with personal loans when someone is no longer with the institution they were with when they came to borrow the loan; outside of that, the majority is salary deduction so it’s not a major concern,” Dixon said. “A major concern is the business loans where persons are out there and trying to make ends meet.”

Against that background and given the fact that micro businesses are notorious for inadequate accounting records, the new business loans unit will have an education compenent instructing clients on proper financial management, she revealed.

“If you support them, and they are seeing where their profit is, they are more inclined to come back,” Dixon said.

What’s more is that in September the firm will open its ninth branch on the island in Portmore, St Catherine, as it aims to meet demand from that growing municipality.

“We watch our portfolio and realise that a lot of our customers are coming from that area,” Dixon said, noting that the Portmore location will be open six days a week.

Kris An Charles Investment, founded in 1992, is one of Jamaica’s leading microfinance companies. It is also one of the founding members of the Jamaica Micro Financing Association (JaMFA).

There has been a proliferation of microfinanciers in Jamaica over the last several years, and Dixon welcomes the competition, while urging borrowers to be very prudent.

“What happens is that you have so many institutions coming up left and right, and the stability is not there for the client,” Dixon said.

“So we encourage people to know what they are doing, and understand the company that they are borrowing from — the risk may be high and the company’s policies may not be conducive to the borrower’s success, so they just need to read the fine print and understand what’s going on,” she said.