JN Bank abolishes some fees

With local commercial banks continuing to face criticisms over the fees they charge depositors JN Bank has become the latest to announce the discontinuation of some of the charges.

The bank says it has discontinued some in-branch fees including, minimum balance and maintenance fees on deposits in savings accounts.

Managing director of JN Bank, Maureen Hayden-Cater says the removal of the fees is part of the company’s strategy to make banking services more accessible to everyone and to improve the banking experience for Jamaicans.  

“The intention is to make our services accessible so that in the long-term, Jamaicans can be more confident about the services they receive from commercial banks; and the wealth they are accumulating when they save,” says Hayden-Cater.

She says the bank has also discontinued other fees for everyday in-branch transactions with members no longer having to pay for in-branch deposits under J$1 million.

“In other words, everyday banking at JN is free,” she quipped.

In March, a Consumer Affairs Commission (CAC) survey revealed that JN Bank has significantly lower fees, or no costs attached to many of its products and services, which Hayden-Cater says positions JN Bank as an excellent commercial banking option for Jamaicans.

“We are reducing the encumbrances to banking thereby creating a financial experience in which members can save and access credit to achieve their personal goals and objectives.

“Banks are not institutions to be feared, instead we want our banking halls to be places where customers can be at ease and confident that their economic potential will be realised,” Mrs Hayden-Cater says.

JN Bank members also do not pay when they use any JN ATM across the island to do banking transactions.

After 142 years as a building society, the former Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS) converted to JN Bank on February 1.

JN Bank is a subsidiary of The Jamaica National Group, a mutual organisation, owned by the savers and borrowers of JN Bank.