SAGICOR Investments Jamaica Limited (SIJL) has completed a new digital upgrade aimed at improving client access to services, as brokers across the market ramp up investments in digital platforms.

Sagicor Investments clients can now directly buy and sell listed stocks on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) through the Sagicor Bank e-bank platform. This adds to existing features that allow clients to fund repurchase agreements (repos) and equity purchases directly from their Sagicor Bank accounts. The upgrade was rolled out to clients in December 2025.

“We’ve been moving at full speed, working closely with our teams to deliver a smarter, faster and more connected digital experience for our clients,” Sagicor Group said in an email to the
Jamaica Observer. “Recent upgrades to the Sagicor e-bank platform now allow clients to trade equities, purchase repos and access richer portfolio insights all in one place, while upcoming enhancements across Sagicor Bank and Sagicor Investments will unlock even more transaction options and seamless self-service.”

Sagicor Investments Jamaica was among the first five brokers added to the JSE’s JTraderPro platform when it launched in May 2015. While JTraderPro has undergone several upgrades over the years — most recently in May 2025 — funding in and out of accounts traditionally required an extra step involving an advisor. This was necessary to verify that funds were available in the broker’s bank account and that fund-out requests were made by the actual client.

The deeper integration with the Sagicor e-bank platform now allows clients to place equity buy orders using cash held directly in their Sagicor Bank accounts. Clients can also view real-time intra-day trading information and a local market overview before executing trades.

When a Sagicor Investments client sells a stock, they can choose to have the proceeds deposited into their personal Sagicor Bank account, another Sagicor Bank client’s account, transferred to another local bank, or issued by cheque. This bypasses the standard fund-out request via an advisor and allows funds to become available on the next business day, once settlement is completed under the T+1 settlement cycle.

A simple test showed that an order takes about 20 to 30 seconds between confirmation on the e-bank platform and confirmation on the JSE’s systems. This significantly improves the ease with which clients can reinvest dividends into the stock market. Clients already registered on JTraderPro can also sell shares purchased via the e-bank platform after the normal settlement cycle.

Sagicor Investments has been digitising more of its products and services over the past five years. Clients can subscribe to or redeem funds from the Sagicor Sigma Funds unit trust offering through the e-bank platform without completing physical forms. Bond trade requests can also be made directly through the platform, with clients choosing their source of funds.

The company also relaunched its eInvest platform in July 2024, aimed at improving access for clients purchasing public offerings, including initial public offerings (IPOs) and additional public offerings (APOs), whether Sagicor is acting as broker, arranger or selling agent.

“We’re also laying the groundwork for deeper integration between eInvest and e-bank, alongside future-ready features like a digital wallet that will support CBDC transactions and, eventually, Apple Pay,” Sagicor Group added.

Sagicor’s digital upgrade comes amid broader digitisation across the brokerage sector. NCB Capital Markets Limited launched its GoIPO platform in April 2019, becoming the first broker to digitise the public offering process. It followed up with the launch of NCBCM Online in April 2020, aimed at improving portfolio management.

Similar to Sagicor’s bank–broker integration, NCBCM allows clients with National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited accounts to fund unit trust offerings, stock purchases, repos and public offerings directly from their bank accounts. NCBCM also offered a lower commission of 0.75 per cent on its online platform, compared with 1.00 per cent on JTraderPro.

JMMB Group Limited’s brokerage arm, JMMB Securities Limited, has also seen strong growth following the 2021 upgrade of its Moneyline platform. That upgrade enabled clients to view market queues, transfer funds from their JMMB Bank (Ja) accounts to equity accounts and apply for public offerings. With the settlement cycle reduced to T+1 in May 2024, JMMB clients can access transaction proceeds as early as 7:00 am the following business day.

JMMB launched its Moneyline IPO platform in December 2023 to better serve non-JMMB clients. This became the eighth digital brokerage platform in the market, following offerings from Proven Wealth, Mayberry Investments, GK Capital Management and JN Fund Managers.

While Scotia Investments Jamaica Limited does not operate a stand-alone trading platform, since 2025 it has enabled clients to view their investment portfolios — updated daily — via the Scotia Caribbean mobile and online banking platforms. This service is available to clients who also bank with the Bank of Nova Scotia Jamaica Limited.

Collectively, these developments reflect a continued push by financial conglomerates to better integrate their banking and investment subsidiaries and retain capital within their ecosystems. By enabling seamless digital payments and self-service transactions, firms are reducing branch visits, accelerating fund movement, and deepening customer engagement across their platforms.