Encouraged by the growing demand for its Lasco Gold Visa Prepaid card, Lasco Financial Services (LFS) recently launched the ‘Simplify your life’ campaign which aims to enrol more of its remittance customers to use the Visa card to send and receive money overseas.

The card was launched back in June 2021 after LFS entered into a partnership with global digital payment technology provider Visa that saw it increase its offerings and add a new channel for remittance. Following a pilot in which the card was initially distributed to LFS staff and internal customers, the company then marketed the payment device to both the unbanked and underbanked, providing them with the convenience of easily acquiring a debit card.

“The Lasco Gold Visa Prepaid card can be obtained with similar documents used to collect remittances. In fact, an individual does not need a bank account for this prepaid card. Customers are loving the card because it is safe and convenient. They can receive money direct to the card from overseas, anywhere at any time, without having to stand in a line at an agent location,” Ramon Davis, LFS payments services manager explained.

With over 70 of LFS agent locations across Jamaica offering the card, the application process is hassle-free compared to that of registering for a debit card or credit card from a bank, the company stated. Customers can sign up and receive a card on spot by presenting valid identification and tax registration number. In addition, customers may use the Lasco Gold Web app on both android and Apple devices to create their profile and request a personalised card and digital wallet.

Moreover, the company said the card allows its customers to enjoy “the experience of convenience and safety when they conduct a myriad of cashless transactions without having a bank account, including receiving remittances directly to the card — anytime, anywhere”.

To this end, the Lasco Gold Visa card reduces the need to carry around excess amounts of cash. With it, LFS customers have the options of topping up their cards at cash-in agent locations or online using bank transfer to LFS, which loads the card with funds after.

The prepaid card can be used at all point-of-sale terminals where Visa is accepted and provide customers with even more access to electronic financial services, such as online shopping, bill payments, monthly subscription payments, among others. Where cardholders need cash, the card can be used at major automated teller machines with the use of a PIN that can be created and reset on the Lasco Gold Web app.

Now two years after the launch, LFS Managing Director Jacinth Hall Tracey has disclosed that the uptake of the card from the general public has exceeded every expectation.

“We are certainly pleased with the interest in the card and the overall number of subscriptions and we continue to see a surge in interest across the board. For remittance customers on the receiving end or sending end, it is safer, convenient, and more affordable to transfer and receive funds within minutes and at any time of the day or night. It really simplifies the process of money transfer and their lives,” she said.

“Initially the card was targeted to the underbanked and unbanked, but we have found that we are also getting many customers who hold accounts in the traditional banking system. In fact, due to the ease of applying for this particular card, we find that a lot of people are utilising it for remittances and online purchases. We have noticed that many customers have been choosing to use this card for all their digital payments, particularly for subscriptions to online services,” she added.

It is for this reason that the company has launched the ‘Simplify Your Life’ campaign, sharing with its customers the number of benefits of the Lasco Gold Visa Prepaid card.

Cardholders can also receive remittances directly to their Lasco Gold Visa card when they sign up for the Lasco Money Skip Di Line service, allowing LFS to load the funds to their card once they send a notification with the required information. Direct remittance to the card can also be effected if the senders use a Visa Direct partner for the transaction.

Hall Tracey has pointed out, though, that the roll-out of the card has come with significant expenses, such as advertising, marketing events, and road promotions.

“The associated costs are high, and we are pushing to make break even on these services by the end of the 2024 financial year, conditions allowing,” she informed shareholders in the company’s annual report for 2023.

Still, she pointed out the relatively new business line has contributed to growth in the company’s revenues.

“Revenues from this business venture made a valuable contribution to our overall income. We are excited at the prospects for this business and the anticipated growth prospects,” Hall Tracey also outlined in the report.

Since its approval from the Bank of Jamaica to issue the Lasco Gold Visa Prepaid card, LFS has continued testing the business-to-business and business-to-customer capabilities of the payment technology in the central bank’s fintech regulatory sandbox.