THE Zachary Harding-led Delta Capital Partners is now finalising its acquisition of the Massycard (Barbados) Limited portfolio with a view to launch rebranded cards in the first quarter of next year before expanding its prepaid debit card business to other territories in the Caribbean.

“So we’ve already signed an agreement with Mastercard and they’re going to be investing in and supporting the growth and expansion of that business once we conclude the transaction,” Harding told Jamaica Observer on the sidelines of the Tech Beach Retreat summit in Rose Hall, St James, earlier this month.

The company is also planning to co-brand its payment cards with Visa but the Delta Capital Group executive chairman did not indicate how far advanced negotiations are with the international payment solutions provider.

By onboarding both Mastercard and Visa to co-brand and enable the debit cards, Harding shared that cardholders will have the “ability to do business globally” and online. Additionally, Delta Capital Partners will add new layers to the card service by enabling its cardholders to have access to services, such as telemedicine, that are exclusively provided online.

“We had to be able to partner with somebody who’s a giant in the space and can give us global access,” he emphasised.

Harding, along with CEO of Delta Capital Group Ivan Carter, announced the takeover of Massycard (Barbados) Limited’s portfolio back in October during the Fintech Islands conference held in St Michael, Barbados. However, the executives did not disclose a cost for the acquisition.

The deal gave Delta Capital Partners access to some 30,000 cardholders or a tenth of the resident population in Barbados. According to Harding, excluding children and some of the older population, cardholders amount to over a fifth of individuals eligible for a payment card.

What’s more, having also secured the know-your-customer mechanism to onboard new cardholders, Delta Capital Partners now look to replicate the model in Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica.

When asked about how soon to expect the roll-out of the company’s card service beyond the borders of Barbados, Harding responded, “Give us a year, but you will start seeing a lot of activities before that because we’re coordinating a lot of pieces right now. So by the first quarter of next year you’ll see the first things being pushed and then we’ll continue aggressively in the rest of 2023.”

In the first phase, cardholders will have access to physical payment cards and then digital or virtual cards.

In the meantime, Delta Capital Partners will continue its focus on investing in and adding value to middle-market companies that are already established. Harding pointed out that the start-up private equity firm is eyeing companies in the payments industry since it has “a clear vision of being the largest non-bank” payment service provider in the region.

“Right now it’s very difficult for some people to get a bank account. Even though they’ve reduced the requirements that are necessary, many people in the Caribbean still don’t have a bank account,” he told Business Observer.

“So we’re very much focused on the segments of the unbanked and under-banked and enrolling them into our system,” he added.