Remittance service provider Paymaster(Jamaica) Limited (PJAL) has pointed to a “system error” linked to services supplied by a single overseas provider as the main cause of the Bank of Jamaica’s (BOJ) suspension of a segment of its operations and has sought to assure customers that it continues to operate an “accurate and honest” business.

“Our operations are running smoothly and are not in any way impacted by the suspension of the international remittance services licence. The current changes, due to a system error, apply only to a very small part of Paymaster’s business — specifically primary agent services supplied by a single overseas provider,” Paymaster said in a press statement following the announcement of the suspension.

On Wednesday the central bank released a statement that it had suspended the remittance operating licences issued to Paymaster as a remittance primary agent, effective July 5, until further notice.

Consequent to the suspension, Paymaster is no longer authorised to offer remittance services as a primary agent, and as such, no remittance services are being offered at 19 locations islandwide.

However, Paymaster has the greenlight to continue operating as a sub-agent of six remittance primary agents, and therefore offers remittance services through these sub-agent arrangements at 47 locations.

The suspension has not impacted Paymaster’s authorisation to test its MyCash mobile wallet in the BOJ’s fintech regulatory sandbox.

“Customers of PJAL’s MyCash product may continue to utilize the payment service with the exception of the feature — disbursement of inbound remittance to wallet,” the BOJ said, but it did provide clarity on what caused the suspension.

On Thursday, the remittance service provider sought to reassure customers that the company continues to carry out its business with “accuracy and honesty” as it had for the past 29 years, and that it remains committed to maintaining these standards.

“Paymaster wishes to clarify that all our bill payment services remain available at more than 200 Paymaster branches across the island, including MyCash agents,” the company said. Efforts by the Jamaica Observer to get further details on the development proved futile up to press time.

It said only a small number of its stores have been impacted by the suspension. Outside of remittance services, Paymaster also deals in bill payments for utilities, insurance, public services, international money transfers through strategic partnerships.

In the meantime, Paymaster said it has been in dialogue with the central bank regarding the issue, and that it is “fully committed” to understanding and addressing the issues raised by the BOJ.

Paymaster has relationships with over 40,000 locations in the US and Canada. The business is majority-owned by Digicel. Both Paymaster and Prism, a similar payment firm operating in 22 countries with offices in The Bahamas, Jamaica, and Trinidad & Tobago, were acquired by the telecoms provider in 2015.