The ink has now dried on an agreement for Jamaica-based Delta Capital Group (Delta) to acquire the credit card portfolio of Massy Cards.
This acquisition sees Delta acquiring 100 per cent of a Barbados company, which has 30,000 Massy credit cards issued in Barbados.
The major move on the part of Delta was announced on the first day of the three-day Fintech Islands conference going on in Barbados.
We’re going to issue other types of cards like prepaid cards — both physical and digital.
Delta’s Founder Zachary Harding confirmed that payments have been finalised for the transaction which received regulatory approval in September. Harding is the majority shareholder in Delta and serves as executive chairman.
Partners of the private equity firm include shareholder Ivan Carter, Former CFO of Sagicor Jamaica who serves as Delta Group CEO, and Anthony Dunn who serves as Delta Group chief investment officer.
Carter said, this is also “our entry into the payment space here in Barbados… What we are going to be doing very quickly and very aggressively is building out a comprehensive payment’s platform. We’re going to expand this suite of credit cards. We’re going to issue other types of cards like prepaid cards — both physical and digital.
“The portfolio now has an electronic wallet or e-wallet. We’re going to embellish and enhance and expand the services and capabilities and the reach of that wallet. We’re also going to bring, when the infrastructure is right, and I know my commercial banking friends are in the room, and at the right time we will bring other products that we have already invested in — digital currencies, central bank currencies, USD currencies, digital cards, digital gift cards etc. So we have a full range of all digital because one of our strategic weapons, or distinguishing characteristics, is the use of technology to solve these problems.”
But for now it will look, feel and operate just the same way as it has so far.
Massy, whose 99-year history as a deeply rooted household brand throughout the Eastern Caribbean, was able to provide credit card and loyalty cards to its customers for several decades. The cards are a financial staple throughout the region for the purchase of products and services.
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According to Delta’s Executive Chairman Harding during a breakout session Wednesday, “the Massy cards will eventually be transitioned to the MasterCard platform and rebranded as DeltaPaay. But for now, it will look, feel and operate just the same way as it has so far.”
He said that with MasterCard on board the unincluded person will be included and afforded opportunities like online shopping with DeltaPaay.
For Caribbean finance, this is comparable to the shift from hand-delivered mail to email.
In a press release, Harding added that once the transition is complete, Delta aims to swiftly overlay healthcare services onto its payment structure via its telehealth platform — Delta Health & Wellness.
Harding describes the move as “transformational”, saying: “DeltaPaay will enable a wider bracket of Caribbean people, including the unbanked, to take part in the modern digital economy, including paying for goods and services online. Most importantly, our people will have access to pay for online healthcare services through Delta’s telemedicine platform, even if they do not have a bank account.”