The Jamaica Observer plans to explore the various foreign exchange (FX) rates among authorised dealers and cambios in Jamaica as the Jamaican dollar (JMD) slightly depreciated against the United States dollar from $151.56 to $153.64 during the month of July.

At the end of trading on July 29, National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited (NCBJ) was selling USD for $152.65 which was the cheapest in the entire commercial banking sector and as an authorised dealer. The rate was also $0.99 below the weighted average selling rate on that day. FirstCaribbean International Bank (FCIB) Limited (Jamaica) had the highest sell rate of $156. However, when it came onto buying USD cash, NCBJ offered the lowest rate of $131.10 while JMMB Bank offered the best rate of $140. JMMB Bank also offered the best buy cheque/draft rate for funds held with them, with NCBJ offering the lowest buy cheque/draft rate of $144.60. NCBJ is the largest player in the FX space in Jamaica while JMMB Group Limited’s 2022 annual report stated that it was the second-largest cambio in the Jamaican market. It should be noted that JN Bank Limited offers a lower rate to its members compared to the board rate for the general public. NCBJ maintains the largest cash spread of $21.55 and cheque spread of $8.05. There are 11 authorised dealers in the market which corresponds to the number of deposit-taking institutions in the country. The weighted average selling rate was $153.64 while the weighted average buying rate was $152.55 on July 29.

When it comes onto a select eight cambios from the 49 registered with the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ), Lasco Financial Services Jamaica Limited offered the lowest sell rate of $152.35 while Barita Investments Limited offered the highest sell rate of $156. Prime Trust Financial Corporation Limited had the highest buy cash rate of $145 while Micro Financing Solutions Limited offered the lowest rate of $140. Mayberry Investments Limited offered the best buy cheque rate of $152.30 relative to Lasco which had the lowest buy cheque rate of $142.60.

With respect to the Great British pound (GBP), JN Bank offered the lowest selling rate of $186.26 among the commercial banks while FCIB had the highest sell rate of $194.2824. Sagicor Bank Jamaica Limited (SBJ) had the best buy cash rate of $180.80 while FCIB’s buy cash rate of $169.9987 was the lowest. Barita had the highest sell rate among the selected cambio’s at $195.50 while GraceKennedy Currency Trading Services Limited (trading as FX Trader) had the lowest sell rate of $188. Prime Trust had the best buy cash rate of $177.70 while Micro Financing’s buy cash rate was the lowest at $165.69. The GBP to JMD weighted average selling rate was $187.05 while the weighted average buy rate was $179.92 on July 29.

With respect to the Canadian dollar (CAD), JN Bank had the lowest sell rate of $119.84 with FCIB’s sell rate the highest at $123.5520. SBJ had the best buy cash rate of $114.60 while FCIB had the lowest buy cash rate of $109.7117. FX Trader and Prime Trust offered the lowest sell rate of $121.10 while Barita offered the highest sell rate of $124.50. Prime Trust offered the highest buy cash rate of $109.50 while Micro Financing had the lowest rate of $104.74. The weighted average selling rate was $120.78 while the weighted average buy rate was $116.84 on July 29.

With respect to the EUR, JN Bank had the lowest sell rate of $157.25 while FCIB had the highest rate of $165.4424. SBJ had the best buying rate at $151.10 while FCIB had the lowest buying rate of $141.1233. Barita had the lowest sell rate of $156 while Lasco had the highest rate of $163.30. Prime Trust had the best buying cash rate of $146.90 while Micro Financing Solutions had the lowest buy cash rate of $138.57.The weighted average selling rate was $158.68 while the weighted average buy rate was $150.59 on July 29.

As of May 2022, Sagicor Bank Jamaica Limited (SBJ) offered the lowest outgoing wire transfer fee among seven commercial banks at US$24.68. JMMB Bank had the highest outgoing wire transfer fee of US$40.60. FCIB had the lowest outgoing wire transfer fee in Jamaican dollars at $2,721 while The Bank of Nova Scotia (Jamaica) Limited (BNSJ) had the highest outgoing JMD rate of $3,920.78.