SUPREME Ventures Limited (SVL) is accelerating its push into the remittance business, aiming to expand to as many as 80 locations by year end as the gaming company seeks to diversify revenue and deepen its footprint in financial services.

The company, which currently operates 22 remittance locations, expects that number to reach 40 by March as additional third-party outlets receive approval from the Bank of Jamaica, according to Executive Chairman Gary Peart. It had six company-owned locations at the end of 2024.

“We’ve gone into remittance because it’s very complementary to what we do,” Peart said during a virtual briefing on March 2.

The move represents a strategic extension of SVL’s core business. While best known for lottery, sports betting and fixed-odds gaming, the company already operates a network of nearly 1,200 retail locations across the island, many of them small community outlets and gas stations run by third-party agents.

Peart said that network gives SVL a natural advantage in the remittance space, allowing it to integrate money transfer services into locations that already handle significant cash flows.

Operators at those locations often pay out winnings and manage cash on behalf of the company. Adding remittance services allows them to disburse and circulate cash more efficiently, reducing the need for physical cash transfers.

“So, what the remittance business does for us is that it allows the gaming operator to be able to disburse cash — and that ultimately reduces their cost and our cost as we go down the road,” Peart explained.

SVL re-entered the market through its subsidiary Supreme Ventures Fintech Limited (SVFL), which was approved as a primary agent in late 2023 with Ria Money Transfer as its international partner. Third-party operators act as agents under that structure.

SVL previously operated 88 locations via Supreme Ventures Financial Services Limited via Moneygram International. However, it sold the operations to Lasco Financial Services Limited in 2011 for $38 million.

SVL also had 215 locations which facilitated bill payments at the end of 2025, with the fourth quarter report noting that it facilitated payments for the country’s top four billers. The company is also awaiting approval from the BOJ to expand this service to its diverse customer base.

The expansion comes as Jamaica’s remittance market is undergoing a shift, with traditional cash-based models facing growing competition from digital channels.

GraceKennedy Limited, one of the country’s largest remittance providers, said digital transactions surpassed cash transfers globally in 2025 for the first time, even as its own money services business saw revenue decline by four per cent to $8.27 billion and profit before tax fall by 20 per cent to $2.20 billion amid tightening margins.

The company has been pushing to expand digital adoption through its
GK One mobile application, while also experimenting with new collection points, including a pilot at its Hi-Lo Barbican supermarket.

“You’ll actually be able to go, just like you’re going and buying your groceries, you’ll have a lane where you can get your remittances and then buy your groceries at the same time,” said GK Chief Executive Officer Frank James during a March 11 briefing.

At the same time, newer digital players are expanding their offerings. TFOB (2021) Limited, operator of the
Lynk mobile wallet, recently launched a virtual Visa card, allowing users to transact digitally as remittance inflows continue to rise following Hurricane Melissa.

Despite that digital push, physical locations remain important. The number of remittance outlets declined by 10 per cent to 442 in 2025, even as total inflows rose four per cent to US$3.49 billion.

After slowing in October due to the hurricane, inflows rebounded sharply to US$303.8 million in November and US$334.9 million in December.