Dolla Financial Limited is expanding across Jamaica, and in doing so is making a move to be noticed more by the people of the Corporate Area who are seeking loans to satisfy their needs.

Chief executive officer of Dolla Financial, Kadeen Mairs, said a thrust is being pushed to concentrate more on the market that houses a third of the Jamaica population.

Dolla was started in 2014 by Westmoreland-born Mairs, in partnership with Stocks and Securities Ltd as a cambio and remittance company. Mairs, who after leaving the legendary Manning’s High School, went on to gain bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Earlier this year, First Rock Capital Holdings acquired the majority stake in Dolla Financial from SSL Growth Equity Limited.

“We primarily attract core clientele out of the north coast, places like St James, and other parishes like Hanover, Westmoreland, and St Elizabeth, but our focus is to do more business in Kingston. We want to resonate more with the every day person in Kingston,” Mairs said.

Dolla loan products are placed in three broad categories: there are micro loans offered to, for example, the individual who jerks chicken; is a bus conductor, or who works in the bus park whom the company assists almost daily; personal loans to assist those individuals who work for companies, who have regular 9-5 jobs and want to pay personal expenses; and business loans, which are targeted to small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The company does not offer foreign currency loans.

Mairs, a former Hanover Cooperative Credit Union, and National Commercial Bank employee, who is a minority stake in Dolla, remained as chief executive, but his day-to-day duties have now been shared with a recently appointed chief operating officer, as he concentrates on business development and expansion of the organisation that has 25 people in its employ across locations.

Currently, there is no ceiling on loans, and interest is applied based on situations. Originally, the loan ceiling was $4 million, but since the partnership with First Rock the amount that the company offers to lend has been increased based upon the customer’s needs, and a flexibility is maintained in meeting the demands of the customer.

As for the interest rates, there is also much leeway.

“We do risk-based pricing, so we don’t put a [fixed] interest rate on people. The interest rate is flexible and is based on the risk of the person borrowing the money. For example, someone who has a cookshop and has been operating that cookshop for the last 20 years, will get a lower interest rate than somebody who just opened a cookshop last year,” Mairs stated. “If the person has collateral the rate is even lower. It is the same basis for the personal loan, but we have payroll loans that we charge zero interest on, only a processing fee is charged.”

And with more capital being available through the marriage to First Rock, there is no ceiling on loans. “Originally, our loan limit was up to $4 million. Micro loans would go up to $500,000, personal loans up to $2 million, and business loans up to $4 million. However, there are bigger companies who will come to us and say we need $10 million and we assist them. It’s done on a case by case basis,” Mairs revealed. “We keep the loans flexible based on the customer’s needs – one week, one year, or two years… we will assist them. Our system remains flexible and is tailored to the customer.”

Its corporate office is in Montego Bay, although its head or registered office is in Kingston, and there are six other branches across Jamaica, following the opening of one in Mandeville, Manchester on July 1. The plan is to venture into Old Harbour, St Catherine; and Christiana, Manchester in the short term, likely before the end of the calendar year.

There is an eye on broadening the regional reach too, as the company is already incorporated in Guyana and is considering other Caribbean outlets.

“We have lent money in the Guyana market and we are planning to boost our presence there for the first quarter of 2021, based on our economy’s recovery. So it depends on COVID-19 to determine how far we push in the market,” Mairs stated, while revealing that the company’s intention is “to become a regional lending/regional finance company. All the indicators have been encouraging. We don’t expose ourselves to liquidity risks. We are a profitable company that provides great return on equity for its shareholders. We are ambitious. The only thing that can stop us is a natural event, like COVID-19,” Mairs went on.

Since the coming of COVID-19, Dolla Financial has assisted other microfinance institutions which have fallen on tough times, and is even in discussion with some with a view to acquiring them and grow the company’s portfolio by $300 or $400 million in the short term.

Mairs said that since 2016, when the company started lending, close to $1 billion has been approved to over 3,000 clients. The rate of delinquency is also low.

“We can safely say, prior to COVID-19, we had one of the lowest delinquencies across microfinance institutions. Our delinquency averages around five per cent. Post-COVID-19 we have assisted our customers, we have not been pressuring them, we have been giving them moratoriums and we have actually assisted them in terms of, if they need assistance during the time we bridge them until they get through COVID-19.”

And with an unstable economy, the inflexibility of the inflation rate has to be a concern. “Definitely,” Mairs stressed. “The greatest contributor to inflation now is the foreign exchange risk, and the fact that there is limited US dollars in the country, tourism has scaled down, we continue to consume and we are consuming what we are importing, so there is going to be a need for people to be buying more US dollars, so the demand will outstrip supply, which will increase the cost of goods. It is a grave concern for the company and our customers/clients and their success. Access to credit is the backbone of any economy. If the persons don’t have access to borrow they can’t maximise on opportunities,” Mairs suggested.