MCNAUGHTONAyanna Kirton, Staff Reporter
GRACE, KENNEDY Remittance Services (GKRS) is gearing up to launch a new cross-border bill payment service at the company's international financial service centre in Brooklyn, New York. The bill payment service is the company's latest venture, partnering Western Union with Bill Express to facilitate the payment of local utility bills by Jamaicans living in the United States.
GKRS is the exclusive agent for Western Union in Jamaica and introduced this service to the local public to enable Jamaicans to send and receive money transfers internationally and islandwide. Bill Express, which was launched in 2002, is another service provided by GKRS and serves as a one-stop bill payment location for the payment of utilities and other creditors from its multiple locations across Jamaica.
Manager for Bill Express, Michael McNaughton, said the introduction of the new service was based on the feedback of foreign customers living in areas where the concentration of Jamaican nationals were particularly high. "We are addressing the concerns of our customers who have been in need of a fast, convenient way to pay their utility bills in Jamaica," he said.
OPTION
"The new service will solve that problem, affording customers the option of paying their bills electronically, and the provision of validated payment receipts after every transaction will add to the service's security, giving customers peace of mind," he said.
Wendy Allen, Bill Express' brand manager, said the new service would be officially launched on Wednesday, September 3, in Jamaica and on Saturday, September 6, in New York. She said the company's campaign would target communities in the New York area via urban radio stations, churches and other community organisations. Local promotion is also scheduled to begin very soon, she said.
According to Noel Greenland, divisional public relations and communications manager for GKRS, based on the company's research, its new cross-border bill payment solution is the first of its kind. "As far as we know it is a novel idea and it is in keeping with our mandate to offer our customers secure, private and convenient bill payment options." The public relations manager said the benefits of the use of the technology to facilitate the transfer of funds will not only provide customers with an affordable and efficient service but also benefit billing companies since the cross-border bill payment system will help these companies lower their operation and collection costs in the medium and long term.
