ST MICHAEL, BARBADOS — CEO of Delta Capital Group Ivan Carter has revealed that the Jamaica-based company has entered an agreement to acquire the credit card portfolio of Massycard (Barbados) Limited (MCBL or Massy).

The deal was announced on Wednesday, October 5 at the Fintech Islands Experience Summit being held at the Hilton Barbados.

“We’ve signed an agreement…to acquire the credit cards portfolio of the Massycard. This portfolio consists of 30,000 Massy credit cards and that, in fact, is our entry into the payment space in Barbados,” Carter said.

“What we’ve been doing very quickly and very aggressively is building out a comprehensive payments platform. We’re going to expand the suite of credit cards; we’re going issue other types of cards, like prepaid cards, both physical and digital,” he added.

A release from the company outlined that payments have been finalised for the transaction, which received regulatory approval in September.

Delta was founded in 2020 in Jamaica by Zachary Harding who is the majority shareholder and serves as executive chairman. Carter, who previously served as chief financial officer of Sagicor Group Jamaica Limited, up to April 2020, is also a shareholder, and Anthony Dunn who serves as Delta Group chief investment officer.

Massy boasts a 99-year history in the Eastern Caribbean and is celebrated as a deeply rooted household brand. The company had provided credit card and loyalty cards to its customers for several decades, enabling them to purchase products and services.

Carter’s announcement followed a notice from Massycard in a local newspaper advising its customers of the portfolio acquisition by Delta Payments Services (Barbados) Limited.

“Delta, a fintech company incorporated in Barbados, is wholly owned by the private equity firm Delta Capital Partners Limited. Delta’s objective is to build a leading digital payments services and consumer finance firm with high appeal to all sectors,” the notice read.

“Customers of Massycard Barbados Limited will shortly receive letters from MCBL [Massycard Barbados Limited] with the relevant information regarding their accounts with the company…” it continued.

Carter disclosed plans to “embellish, enhance and expand the capabilities and reach” of the card as a mobile wallet and to introduce an array of other products that Delta Capital Group has invested in such as digital currencies and central bank digital currencies.

“We have a full suite of payment services that we will layer onto that platform over time,” Carter shared.

Delta Capital Group Executive Chairman Zachary Harding also disclosed that Massycards will eventually be transitioned to the Mastercard platform and rebranded as DeltaPaay. Cardholders would then be able to access global financial services. Once the transition is complete, Delta aims to swiftly overlay health-care services onto its payment structure via its telehealth platform Delta Health & Wellness.

“For Caribbean finance, this is comparable to the shift from hand-delivered mail to e-mail. DeltaPaay will enable a wider bracket of Caribbean people including the unbanked to take part in the modern digital economy, including paying for goods and services online. Most importantly our people will have access to pay for online healthcare services through Delta’s telemedicine platform, even if they do not have a bank account.”