Paymaster clarifies BOJ license withdrawal

Shortly after the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) announced that it had suspended the remittance licenses issued to Paymaster Jamaica Limited (PJAL) as its primary remittance agent, the company has clarified that this suspension only affects a small portion of its business.

The BOJ said on Wednesday that due to the suspension of remittance licenses at 19 affected locations, remittance services will not be offered until further notice.

Nevertheless, Paymaster continues to act as a sub-agent of six primary remittance agents and provides remittance services in 47 locations through these sub-agent agreements.

In response to inquiries from Loop NewsPaymaster noted that the suspension only affects the services of a principal agent provided to a single foreign supplier. This action was taken due to a breach of Paymaster’s record-keeping obligations.

“Our remittance services to Lasco and JMMB Money Transfer as well as our bill payment services remain unaffected. It is business as usual in that regard,” Paymaster said.

Paymaster said it proactively notified the BOJ of a system error in line with its legal obligations and has been in constant contact with the central bank since then.

Nevertheless, the current suspension is the first breach of the rules serious enough to warrant immediate intervention by the BOJ.

“We obviously take this matter very seriously and are fully committed to understanding and addressing the issues raised by the BOJ,” the company said. Paymaster assured that it would provide updates as needed.

In addition, the central bank confirmed that Paymaster’s approval to test its MyCash mobile wallet in the BOJ Fintech Regulatory Sandbox remains valid. Customers of Paymaster’s MyCash product will be able to continue using the payment service, with the exception of the feature that allows withdrawal of incoming transfers to the wallet.