KINGSTON, Jamaica — Thousands of Jamaicans who participated in the Government’s COVID-19 Allocation of Resources for Employees (CARE )programme have applied for savings accounts from GraceKennedy’s commercial banking entity, First Global Bank (FGB).

Since the payments of the CARE grants started just over a week ago, the bank said it has recorded over 11,000 applications for saving accounts by individuals who selected GraceKennedy Money Services (GKMS)/Western Union as their pay-out location for their compassionate grant.  

The commercial bank had simplified the account opening process for CARE recipients allowing them to use a Government issued ID and taxpayer registration number(TRN).

President and CEO, Mariame McIntosh Robinson said there has been an overwhelming level of interest in accessing financial services among CARE recipients.

“We realize that the unbanked members of society have been disproportionally affected by the onset of this global pandemic. While we have been pursuing financial inclusion for a few years and opening accounts for the unbanked, the GOJ CARE programme presented an immediate opportunity to bank more Jamaicans with reduced account-opening requirements given pre-vetting done by GOJ and transaction limit set on the accounts. Now more than ever, Jamaicans must be given the opportunity to enter the formal sector to enjoy benefits of savings, pension, payments and so on,” McIntosh Robinson said.

The bank said it will be extending the account opening after the official collection period ends so that every person who received the CARE benefit can visit a First Global Bank branch, mini-branch or visit the website www.firstglobal-bank.com  to open an account with these same reduced requirements.