Rickardo Ebanks, head of GraceKennedy’s Digital Manufacturing unit, demonstrates the GK One app’s new ship function which permits customers to switch cash internationally by way of Western Union, with only a few faucets. (Photograph: Garfield Robinson)
GRACEKENNEDY Group’s Digital Manufacturing unit, established in 2022 to drive e-commerce and on-line transactions amid the COVID-19 pandemic, has launched an outbound ship function on its GK One cell utility.
The brand new function is a part of a strategic overhaul of Jamaica’s remittance panorama the place digital funds are gaining floor regardless of money transactions remaining prevalent, the corporate mentioned.
The brand new function, powered by Western Union, permits customers to ship cash immediately, decreasing wait instances and unpredictability related to conventional wire transfers.
Talking on the introduction of the function on Monday, Margaret Campbell, chief working officer of GraceKennedy Cash Providers, mentioned the demand for a digital remittance ship choice had been rising amongst prospects, notably as extra Jamaicans embrace on-line banking and cell transactions.
“For a very long time prospects have been asking, ‘When will we be capable of ship cash from the app’. We listened, and GK One Ship is our reply. Jamaicans at dwelling now have a simple, dependable, and safe option to switch funds to family members overseas while not having to go to a bodily location,” she mentioned.
Whereas GraceKennedy has not disclosed how a lot has been spent on the event of the GK One Ship function, the corporate has been making substantial monetary commitments to its Digital Manufacturing unit, which stays on the centre of its fintech technique.
The GK One Ship function permits customers to ship cash each regionally and internationally instantly from the app, with funds obtainable inside minutes by means of numerous payout choices. Recipients can gather cash at Western Union areas in over 200 international locations, have it deposited instantly into financial institution accounts within the US, Canada, and the UK, or obtain funds by way of cell wallets the place relevant.
In contrast to conventional wire transfers which might take days and contain a number of intermediaries, GK One Ship provides a quicker, extra clear different, eliminating lengthy wait instances and unpredictable deductions. The app ensures full pricing transparency so customers know precisely how a lot their recipients will obtain earlier than finishing a transaction.
Regardless of the comfort, customers incur a 3 per cent charge on Visa and Mastercard transactions, along with Western Union ship charges and a 15 per cent Basic Consumption Tax (GCT). Transactions are capped at $150,000 per switch and per day to mitigate monetary dangers.
Regardless of the rising demand for digital options, money stays deeply entrenched in Jamaica’s remittance tradition. GKMS executives acknowledge that digital adoption will take time however imagine the pattern is irreversible.
“There’ll at all times be a necessity for money, particularly in Jamaica the place money utilization stays excessive. However digital options are gaining traction, and we anticipate that GK One Ship will progressively seize a major share of our transactions,” Campbell famous.
She emphasised that the digital service is supposed to enrich, not substitute, its brick and mortar Western Union areas.
“Clients need an ecosystem they’ll transfer between — sooner or later they may want to choose up money, one other day they may ship cash on-line. This isn’t about eliminating money transactions however giving individuals extra alternative,” she added.
The platform operates underneath the Financial institution of Jamaica’s fintech regulatory sandbox, making certain that transactions meet anti-money laundering (AML) and fraud prevention requirements. All person sign-ups require verification by way of a Jamaican driver’s licence, passport, or electoral ID, together with a taxpayer registration quantity (TRN). Moreover, all transactions endure actual time safety checks to detect and forestall suspicious exercise, reinforcing GKMS’s compliance with native and worldwide monetary rules.
“We’ve got embedded safety features from native and worldwide companies. We’ve got achieved sturdy checks which we needed to present to the BOJ, and it met all the factors. We really feel very assured concerning the safety measures that we now have put in place,” Rickardo Ebanks, head of GK’s Digital Manufacturing unit, mentioned.
GraceKennedy’s GK One Ship is the primary of its form in Jamaica, providing an app-based worldwide remittance answer. Whereas business banks and fintech start-ups, equivalent to NCB Monetary Group fintech subsidiary TFOB (2021) Restricted which trades as Lynk, have been increasing their digital choices, no different Jamaican-based platform presently supplies an equal cell remittance ship function built-in with Western Union’s international payout community.
Past remittances, GraceKennedy’s long-term imaginative and prescient for the GK One app seems to be the creation of a broader digital monetary ecosystem. Along with cash transfers the app presently permits customers to pay payments, apply for First World Financial institution bank cards, conduct peer-to-peer transactions, and handle their funds by way of a pay as you go Visa card linked to the app.
Over the previous few years GraceKennedy has steadily ramped up funding in digital transformation, dedicating thousands and thousands yearly to increasing its digital capabilities. The investments have contributed to
GK One’s rise in remittance transactions in Jamaica, with the app seeing regular double-digit progress every month since its launch.
In accordance with the corporate, buyer retention on the platform stands at 75 per cent. The group has hinted at regional growth, with plans to introduce the GK One platform to new Caribbean markets, together with Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana, pending regulatory approval.
