Sagicor adds Saturday banking, eyes mini-branch network
Published:Thursday | August 31, 2017 | 12:00 AMAvia Collinder
Sagicor Bank Jamaica plans to establish mini-branches in areas where the bank currently has no presence, and is extending its operating hours into Saturdays to carve out additional business in the commercial banking market as new players enter.
The first of the mini-branches will open inside the Select Grocers supermarket in Manor Park, Kingston, by year end, growing Sagicor's network to 16.
"We anticipate that this branch model will be replicated throughout Jamaica into areas where we currently do not operate," the bank said via email.
The cost of the mini-branch is "significantly lower than the cost of a traditional branch", the bank said through its communication division. The branch at Select will employ four persons.
The Select partnership "will enable us to offer a wide range of banking products and services to clients in a cost-effective way through reduced footprint, smaller team complement, electronic services, and extended banking hours, including Saturday banking".
Sagicor Bank gave up the No. 3 slot to new market entrant JN Bank in February of this year. With $115 billion in assets, it now ranks fourth in a market of eight banks and holds 10.5 per cent of the loan market. Its loans at $59 billion make up half of its assets, according to industry data on the commercial banking sector at March 2017.
Sagicor Bank said it was working on a suite of new products and services, but declined to comment on the size of the investment in its new initiatives and branch network.