Dennise Williams, Staff Reporter
Danielle Henry - CARLINGTON WILMOT/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER .
PAYMASTER, THE 10-year-old bill payment company, has renewed its relationship with the United States Embassy having just successfully bid to retain the contract to collect non-immigrant visa applications on their behalf.
The relationship, which began in November 2003, has seen Paymaster collecting visa fees from over 80,000 Jamaicans per year.
Currently, the total cost of a visa application is US$100.
The partnership with the U.S. Embassy is just one of several linkages Paymaster has pursued to shift their business model from just the collection of utility bills.
Danielle Henry, business development and client services manager, sat with the Financial Gleaner to explain the direction the company is taking and its expanded range of services.
"Since November 2003 we have taken over the collections of U.S. Embassy Electronic Visa Application Forms (EVAF) for work permits, student visas, first time applicants and crew visas," she said. "In March, our contract was renewed for the next two years.
"This opportunity came about because the embassy is transitioning from a call centre appointment model to an Internet appointment schedule model.
"So we have established an appointment scheduling unit that provides customers Internet access to apply to the embassy for a fee of J$100."
This is an important service for two reasons. First, Ms. Henry points to the lack of Internet savvy many visa applicants have. "There is a big information gap with respect to Jamaicans understanding the online application process."
Secondly, in a press release on May 13 from the US Embassy, they state, 'All non immigrant visa applicants who use the EVAF will be offered earlier appointment dates and will experience expedited processing times on the date of their interview.'
Beyond collecting visa fees, Paymaster has made linkages with the main tertiary educational centres in Jamaica. Ms. Henry tells us that they have been collecting school fees for the Northern Caribbean University since last year.
And since January, Paymaster has been collecting school fees for the University of the West Indies.
Ms. Henry says, "Students are able to service their accounts by giving us their student identification number and the related payment which can be partial or full payment."
And now University of Technology students can benefit from Paymaster's service.
"On May 2, we signed an agreement to facilitate collection of all related fees for UWI. On May 16 we launched the pilot project at selected Paymaster locations," Ms. Henry said.
Another partnership Ms. Henry spoke of is the one with Highway 2000 whereby drivers can top up their toll road pass cards.
"We are the exclusive replenishment source for the T-tags. By June of this year, at select Paymaster locations, customers will be able to purchase T-tags.
And this is an important development because it takes three times longer to pay cash at the toll roads than to go through the automated lane."
These partnerships are very important to Paymaster as they face stiff competition, especially at the consumer end, from GraceKennedy's Bills Express and the in-branch bill payment service provided by banks.
To this, Ms. Henry points to the two-to-five-day delay that can occur after payment where Paymaster updates accounts the same day. And this, she says is their competitive edge.
So with 142 Paymaster locations, and its staff of 124, the company seeks to mine every possible opportunity.
"We are trying to expand our portfolio to diversify our client base from traditional to non-traditional," Ms. Henry stated. "We are looking at processing mortgages, insurance premiums and credit card payments."
