Sagicor Bank Jamaica Limited (SBJ) has re-entered the prepaid card market with plans to capture a broader portion of the Jamaican retail market while converting more remittance users to digital payments.

Sagicor Bank previously had a prepaid Mastercard called the MyCash prepaid card, which was done in partnership with Prism, a Digicel subsidiary, between mid-2018 until May 2022. Two years later, SBJ has launched a new prepaid card, dubbed the Sagicor Bank Preferred Prepaid Mastercard, which went live on July 29. The new prepaid Mastercard is an EMV (Europay, Mastercard and Visa) chip-enabled card with contactless transaction features.

“The two key elements of the re-entry are around security and convenience. Sagicor is on a digital transformation journey right across the group. Some of it will play out in the public space in the form of a direct tangible product like this, as well as other elements where clients will just see that we’ve gotten more efficient because it’s being done on the back end as well,” said Sagicor Bank Senior Vice-President of Retail and Payments Damion Hylton, in an interview with the Jamaica Observer last Friday.

Unlike the prior prepaid card, which was split into three tiers based on certain KYC (Know Your Customer) documents and carried a $115 monthly fee, any individual can sign up on Sagicor Bank’s website with a valid Government-issued ID and their tax registration number (TRN) for the new prepaid card which carries no monthly fee. Individuals would then be able to collect the card at their preferred Sagicor Bank branch or Alliance Financial Services Limited (AFSL) location. A minimum of $500 would be needed to activate the card which would also be done online. The prepaid card has a $250,000 limit and has a daily transaction limit of $100,000 through ABMs, POS (point of sale) or for online transactions.

Hylton explained that the decision not to include a monthly fee was made to encourage transactions by users and ensure broad market appeal to a wide cross section of the populace. This was also meant to complement the remittance market who can decide how their remittances are allocated at 27 select Alliance financial locations where they can also collect the prepaid card.

“A lot of times when you’re collecting remittances, you may not want to have all of that cash walking around with. What we’ve allowed in this partnership is that you can load a portion of the cash to the prepaid card, as well as you can load all of it. We didn’t want to restrict it to individuals just loading all the proceeds for the simple reason that we try to be realistic in how we deploy the product,” Hylton added on the ability for persons to receive remittances through AFSL.

Users will be able to manage the card and associated funds using Sagicor Bank’s online eBank platform. Although depositing cash to the prepaid card at a Sagicor Bank branch will attract a $172-fee, users can also do online transfers from a Sagicor Bank account which carries no fee. Hylton even noted that the possibility exists for users to do a bank transfer from another bank to the card by using the card number as the account number in that transfer.

Sagicor Bank’s move to re-enter the prepaid card market comes at a time when several other remittance providers are seeking to convert their clients from receiving cash to accepting it digitally and spending it using their card offering. JMMB Money Transfer Limited launched its prepaid Visa prepaid card earlier this year which also allows their clients to receive remittances and do transactions using EMV technology. Both Alliance Financial Services and JMMB Money Transfer use MoneyGram as a global remittance partner.

GraceKennedy Remittance Services Limited launched its prepaid Visa debit card in December 2022 to not only receive remittances, but also become a key integration in GK Financial Group’s offerings to its wide customer base. GK is the exclusive Jamaican partner for Western Union which is the main global remittance company used in Jamaica.

Lasco Financial Services Limited launched its Lasco Gold Visa prepaid card in mid-2021 under the Bank of Jamaica’s (BOJ) fintech digital regulatory sandbox. Lasco Financial uses MoneyGram and other global remittance agents to process remittances for its clients. The company plans to launch MoneyGram direct to card in this quarter which will allow cardholders have their remittance sent directly to the Lasco Gold card. This was disclosed in the company’s first quarter report.

Supreme Ventures Fintech Limited, a subsidiary of Supreme Ventures Limited and the latest BOJ primary agent, is currently developing a mobile wallet to complement its remittance and bill payment offerings.

TFOB (2021) Limited, the operator of the Lynk mobile application, is working on a Visa virtual card which is set to be launched this year. Lynk is also a remittance provider with MoneyGram and has a partnership with GK to offer Western Union. Its affiliate company National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited launched a prepaid debit card in April 2021 to the public.

Total remittance inflows into Jamaica were down two per cent to US$3.37 billion for the 2023 calendar year and down three per cent to US$3.13 billion for the Government’s fiscal year (April 2023 to March 2024). These reduced remittance inflows, plus lower commissions from global remittance partners and a tight foreign currency market has contributed to GK’s Money services segment and Lasco Financial Services reporting lower revenue and profitability in the most recent quarters.