David Rose – Jamaica Observer – November 10, 2023
The multi-billion-dollar remittance market has heated up even further as Supreme Ventures Fintech Limited (SVFT) becomes the ninth company to receive a primary agent licence from the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ).
Supreme Ventures Fintech’s entry comes against the backdrop of parent Supreme Ventures Limited (SVL) deepening its business reach into financial services from microcredit to bill payments. There are eight other primary agents with TFOB (2021) Limited, which operates the Lynk mobile application, being the last to receive a licence in November 2022.
A remittance is usually defined as money sent from someone such as family and friends from another country to the home country. These funds are used for a variety of reasons from paying bills to developing personal projects.
“Supreme Ventures Fintech is ready to redefine convenience and access to financial services. Through the introduction of Evolve Pay, our bill payment service, Evolve Money Transfer and other products in the pipeline, we will empower individuals, businesses and communities with greater access to retail financial services and wealth creation opportunities. We’re very excited about our entry into bill payment and remittances and are targeting rapid growth in the space,” said SVFT’s Chief Innovation Officer Delroy Anderson in a press release.
Supreme Ventures Fintech has forged its partnership with Ria Money Transfer under the Evolve Money transfer brand. Ria was introduced to Jamaica in March 2019 through Lasco Financial Services Limited which also has Boss Revolution and MoneyGram as its global remittance partners.
SVL has more than 1,300 retail agent locations under its belt across Jamaica ranging from corner shops to gas stations which sell SVL’s products to the public on their behalf. These agents earn a commission relative to the value of products sold at their location. All retail agents of lottery operators are required to be deemed ‘fit and proper’ by the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission.
With respect to remittances or other money services, sub-agents who offer the relevant service on behalf of primary agents typically receive a commission for each transaction processed through their respective location under a sub-agency agreement. Sub-agents are required to also meet the ‘fit and proper’ criteria set out by the BOJ’s guidelines.
Thus, Supreme Ventures Fintech would be able to leverage the broad reach of its retail network to process these remittances once the sub-agents are approved by the BOJ. GraceKennedy Remittance Services Limited currently has the largest presence with the GraceKennedy Money Services (GMKS) network having 300 locations across Jamaica. GK is the exclusive agent of Western Union in several countries.
Source: https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/remittance-market-heats-up/
Other Links: https://jamaica.loopnews.com/content/supreme-ventures-fintech-evolves-remittance-license
