Remittance inflows are flat amid fewer providers, but MFS Capital Partners aims to profit by securing licences to operate along key corridors.
The company secured licences for remittance services at its new branch at Windward Road, eastern Kingston, and cambio services at its existing location at Three Miles in St Andrew. Chief Executive Officer Dino Hinds said the new services will start contributing to revenue in the first quarter, from July to September.
“You won’t see a big impact because new branches take a while to get going. You will start to see trickling in our September quarter, but you should certainly see a better picture of where we are in terms of these fees in the December quarter,” said Hinds about MFS’ financial year, which ends in June.
THE MARKET
Remittance inflows reached US$1.46 billion during the first five months of the year, or 0.8 per cent higher year-on-year, according to Bank of Jamaica data. In 2025, the regulator issued 16 new licences to operate remittance locations, taking the total to 768. That is, however, down from 842 in 2024 after factoring in relinquished licences and voluntary closures.
In a notice to the Jamaica Stock Exchange, MFS said the new branch will initially provide Western Union money transfer services, with additional financial products to be introduced over time as part of the subsidiary’s ongoing expansion strategy.
“We finally got the go-ahead. Windward Road is up and running. We have a Western Union, but we plan to offer other services from there very soon,” Hinds told the Financial Gleaner.
There is no other Western Union along that stretch, he added, referring to the corridor from downtown Kingston straight to Harbour View.
“So, we think providing that service in that community is something that will be good for the area, but also very beneficial for us in terms of increasing our fee income,” he said.
In addition to its Trafalgar Road location, the company operates a branch at Three Miles, which recently started offering cambio services. The company ultimately wants to grow its network to 10 locations.
“We think it’s a very attractive location because there are no other cambios close by. Sure, you have two commercial banks, but we’re not in any competition in terms of rate, and so on. We have an entirely different target market,” Hinds said, adding that customers had been asking for the expanded service. “Persons have been coming in, asking for more services, so we were very excited about the prospects.”
FINANCIALS
MFS Capital Partners reported profit of $4.2 million on $36 million in revenue for the March quarter of its 2026 financial year. A year earlier, it earned profit of $19.6 million on revenue of $44.2 million. The company was impacted by Hurricane Melissa.
Since rebranding in 2022, MFS reported a series of quarterly losses, particularly in 2024. Restructuring, however, resulted in profitability in 2025.
neville.graham@gleanerjm.com
