JN Financial Group, the arm of the Jamaica National Group which oversees financial entities in the conglomerate, has received approval from the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) to operationalise its flagship strategic initiative — the One JN Passport digital membership and customer experience platform. This comes after the group’s submission to the BOJ in January 2022.

The approval follows the BOJ’s recent thumbs up in July to a subsidiary project to enable the roll-out of a new revolutionary credit process which will result in significant automation of JN Bank’s loan processes to quicken decisions and disbursements as well as strengthen credit risk management.

Approval of the One JN Passport permits the JN Financial Group to use the platform to serve the customers of its member companies. It establishes a single “JN identity” for customers and provides ease of access to products and services across specific JN financial companies, initially JN Bank, and in short order JN Fund Managers, JN Life Insurance, and JN General Insurance (JNGI) as well as JN Money will be included.

“The One JN Passport was conceptualised and developed to provide all members with a single means of doing business with JN by granting them the ease of access to all JN products and services,” Earl Jarrett, chief executive officer of the Jamaica National Group, explained. “Anyone can easily enter into the ‘JN Family’ using this new digital process and access these services swiftly and seamlessly.”

The platform onboards members and automatically updates relevant core systems within the JN Financial Group with the information. This reduces the paperwork traditionally required of front-line employees who serve customers and sell JN products and services.

Claudine Allen, One JN programme director, further elaborated that the platform simplifies customer interactions with Jamaica National and its subsidiaries by centralising the core information, such as personal and marketing-related details, provided by customers during their engagements.

This information serves multiple purposes, including due diligence, foreign exchange (FX), and product qualification, streamlining the overall customer experience.

Data submitted can be shared among companies in the JN Financial Group to accommodate easier product acquisition for customers, who will not need to resubmit information already in the possession of member companies within the JN Financial Group.

For instance, if a customer already holds an account with the bank and subsequently applies for a loan, they are not required to resubmit information like proof of address and ID. The platform optimises efficiency by requesting only relevant information based on the specific product or service being accessed.

Likewise, when dealing with the fund manager, customers are not burdened with re-entering personal data; they need only share their investment preferences.

“So it takes away the requirement to submit and resubmit and submit again every time,” Allen said.”At the centre of it is a sort of approach to customer information management that just makes it effortless for you. And our CEO says that what the password does is that it establishes your identity and then uses that identity to make business easier for you in the future.”

Jarret highlighted just how unparalleled this development is in the Jamaican market.

“There is no precedent for a similar platform or initiative locally,” he said. “It is an entirely novel way of leveraging technology to add real value and create synergies that will improve how we serve our members.”

“This is an important milestone in our journey to leverage our energies as one JN group of companies,” Jarret continued. “The development of the technology to support the One JN Passport, the design of processes and policies to inform onboarding as well as other due diligence considerations were closely examined.”

He noted the precision paid to development of the platform as he reacted to the BOJ announcement.

“Our teams worked with the BOJ to ensure full comprehension of the purpose of the initiative and to establish that the group is proceeding in a manner indicative of sound prudential oversight,” he affirmed.

The One JN Passport online platform will be rolled out as an app available in the Google Play Store and the App Store for iOS devices, and will, in addition to allowing users to submit core Know Your Customer (KYC) information, facilitate seamless and swift access to products offered by JN Bank, starting with regular savings accounts, in any currency, and unsecured loans.

Soon after launch credit card applications will be accommodated. For those customers who prefer a non-digital alternative, some of the benefits of the passport can be accessed by applying for a One JN Passport card, which can also be pinned and used as a debit card.

JN teams are collaborating to prepare JN employees and JN Bank branches for the roll-out.