Citi launches prepaid bank card in Jamaica
Published:Friday | February 10, 2012 | 12:00 AM
Citigroup's customised prepaid card issued to persons who do business with the banking group's corporate clientele, whether as employees, customers or sales agents, was launched in Jamaica at the top of the month.
The MasterCard-branded Citi Prepaid Services card is being promoted as a replacement for cheque and cash transactions. It converts costly paper-dependent processes into electronic solutions, the bank said.
"As it is a prepaid card, there is no credit associated with the card and, therefore, our customer has to provide funds to be loaded on the card before the cardholder can initiate a transaction," said Angela Fletcher, Citi Jamaica's global transaction services head.
Citi said the card can be used for payrolls, payment of government benefits, sales commission and customer incentives.
Explaining how the product works, Fletcher said Citi's client may request that a card credited or loaded with a specified amount of funds - whether Jamaican or foreign currency - be issued to a supplier, who will access the monies at automated teller machines or point-of-sale (POS) terminals.
The card can be used inside and outside Jamaica, but cannot be used for all payments solutions largely because of the caps on the amount of cash that can be accessed through the ATM and POS systems.
In Jamaica, electronic transactions are generally capped about J$40,000 per day for ATMs and J$200,000 at POS terminals.
"As it is a prepaid card, it is not suitable as a replacement for every payment type. The solution has to make sense to the persons receiving the card," Fletcher said.
"For example, if a client is seeking to pay a large supplier, the prepaid card would not be a suitable replacement to a cheque or automated payment. The card is very practical if our client is going to use it to settle company expenses or make repetitive payments to a group of employees or pensioners."
The Citi Jamaica executive said there is no standardised fee structure associated with the product and that the charges are client-specific.
"We customise solutions for our clients on a one-on-one basis." she said.
All transactions done using the card will be registered in Jamaican dollars and regular MasterCard fees will apply, she said.
Fletcher said the card does not represent a return to the retail banking market by Citibank. The card recipient will, however, be required to sign a registration form and provide basic information such as address and date of birth.
"If the ultimate cardholder is not a client of Citi we conduct due diligence on the individual," she said.
No account will be opened for the cardholder.
"Remember, we are a corporate bank in Jamaica, so the prepaid card is a solution meant specifically for our corporate clients, who may pay persons in the retail space. The card is not an attempt to get into the retail space."
Citibank Jamaica is the smallest of Jamaica's seven commercial banks. The American-owned bank exited the retail market in June 2003 to focus on corporate banking.
Citigroup is also rolling out the prepaid card in other Latin American markets but says the product is already available in more than two dozen countries. The banking group operates in 95 markets worldwide.