Top two credit unions partner with bill payment companies
Published:Friday | March 11, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Opens up 350,000 market
Jamaica's two largest credit unions are finalising partnerships with local bill-payment services to widen collection points for their members, whose combined numbers amount to 350,000.
In February, Churches Co-operative Credit Union Limited announced an agreement with GraceKennedy Money Services (GKMS), while COK Sodality says it is negotiating a similar deal with Paymaster Jamaica, which has 200 payment centres nationwide.
COK General Manager Jacqueline Mighty said in late February that the discussions were not sufficiently advanced to disclose the arrangement.
The largest of 43 local credit unions, COK manages a portfolio of J$5.24 billion in savings and J$6.65 billion in assets for 213,000 clients. It has six locations - three in Kingston and one each in Montego Bay, Mandeville and Portmore.
Churches, which has 11 locations, said its agreement with GKMS, which has 280 locations in Jamaica, will allow it to multiply customer access for lodgments and other payments.
GKMS is the umbrella operation for Western Union, FX Trader and Bill Express.
With 127,000 members, Churches oversees J$3.5 billion of deposits and J$3.1 billion in loans.
In a news release posted on its website, Norman Thompson, senior manager of retail network and customer service for Churches, said members were demanding options to make pension and loan payments from different parts of the island.
"We found that Bill Express, with its information systems platform and wide network of locations, could help us to satisfy that request," he said.
Both COK and Churches have added Internet-banking facilities.