Growth & Jobs | AJAA eyes growth, deeper impact through JN Bank Affinity Savings Club

The Alliance of Jamaican Alumni Associations in Canada (AJAA) is exploring a possible enhanced partnership with the JN Group, through the JN Bank Canada Representative Office, to advance its community impact.

At the heart of discussions is the JN Bank Affinity Savings Club, a group savings arrangement that allows organisations to collectively save and access exclusive incentives. It’s being reviewed as a potential game-changer for AJAA, which serves as an umbrella organisation for over 30 Jamaican associations across Canada that have roots in the Jamaican educational system.

“It is definitely an interesting concept,” shared Wayne Swaby, president of the AJAA.

He noted that the JN Bank Affinity Savings Club offers a strategic tool for the Alliance and its member associations, especially as they work to expand and increase their contributions to their alma maters. He explained that while many associations organise events to support their causes, fundraising continues to be a big challenge.

“People do walk-a-thons, some people do cookouts, they do all kind of different things to raise funds, but the biggest challenge for some might be follow-through. For example, in the case of Meadowbrook High School Alumni Association, we might make a commitment that we want to support a certain number of scholarships, but when the time comes to award the scholarships we might not have raised enough funds to deliver on the goal and so we have to adjust. In some cases, despite the efforts, nothing is raised at all. So having this ability to save towards something, with this bonus structure there, I think it could be attractive to some people if it helps them achieve those goals in a more reliable way,” he said.

SUPPORT FOR DIASPORA GROUPS

The JN Bank Canada Representative Office, which primarily facilitates banking connections between Jamaicans in Canada and JN Bank’s operations in Jamaica, has maintained longstanding partnerships with several Jamaican associations across Canada. The recent reintroduction of the Affinity Account by JN Bank marks a strategic opportunity for the office to deepen engagement and support for diaspora groups.

The Affinity Account allows groups and their individual members to engage in a structured and secure saving process, with real-time tracking and tailored benefits based on group performance.

Monique Broughton, chief representative officer for the JN Bank Canada Representative Office explained that each group is eligible to open one Affinity Savings Club Account, with individual members allowed to open multiple accounts once the group account is active. Features include account incentives and access to special workshops through the JN Group network.

“You would have the association opening an account, through us at JN Bank Canada. Any member of the alumni association can then open an account [and indicate their affiliation] and based on the value of their savings, a portion will go back into the association’s account. Basically, JN Bank will match a piece of the interest earned and put that back into the operating account. For example, if you’re a member of the Meadowbrook High School Alumni Association, Meadowbrook High Alumni’s account will benefit from having its members open individual JN Bank accounts and saving in them,” she said.

EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES

As the AJAA and the JN Bank Canada Representative Office look to the future, both organisations have committed to also exploring opportunities to co-host financial education events and launch community impact initiatives that will help people in Canada and Jamaica to secure their financial future.

Swaby noted that a strengthened collaboration presents the opportunity for greater youth engagement, allowing younger Jamaicans to become more involved in financial planning through the associations. He added that it could also help grow the AJAA’s membership and deepen participation across the organisation.

“Member education is one of our key goals and there’s definitely room to include financial wellness. People want to understand things like financial prudence and smart money management and these are areas where JN can certainly support us,” he said.

“We’ve committed so much of our time and our lives to giving back through our associations and it’s absolutely important that we continue to nurture the young ones who are going to come up and represent in the future. It’s really great that we can speak highly of our country and we understand that it is the people who make the country, so we’re very invested in our people,” Swaby added.