JN Financial Group aims to close the financial gap with the One JN Passport, which facilitates the digital onboarding of new customers.

ONE JN Passport enables users to upload their personal information efficiently and securely through the technology. Users of the application need to upload their personal data just once to access the plethora of services offered by the financial group.

Using an intelligent app, the digital passport service allows customers to update their data by downloading and creating a profile in the app. There is no need for customers to visit a JN Bank branch.

After the onboarding, individuals can open regular savings accounts in any currency and apply for unsecured loans. Over time, the JN Passport will also offer customers access to other JN Financial Group services: JN Fund Managers, JN General Insurance, JN Life Insurance, JN Money and JN Cayman.

“In short, the passport, as its name suggests, creates a single ‘JN identity’. This certainly eliminates lots of paperwork and essentially speeds up access,” explained Claudine Allen, ONE JN programme director, who oversaw the project to build out the intelligent application.

Targetting the unbanked/underbanked

A high percentage of Jamaicans remain unbanked and underbanked, according to a Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) study. The National Financial Inclusion–Demand Side Study Final Report published in January states that nearly 23 per cent of Jamaicans still do not have a bank account. Another 6.3 per cent are underbanked. Most are lower income and live in rural Jamaica.

“It makes financial services much more accessible and convenient so that persons aren’t restricted to branches and offices…”

— Claudine Allen, ONE JN programme director

“We recognise this, and so financial inclusion was at the heart of the creation of the [ONE JN] Passport service,” commented Allen.

“It makes financial services much more accessible and convenient so that persons aren’t restricted to branches and offices, and can acquire financial services faster and easier by ‘passporting’ their data across entities within the JN Financial Group,” she emphasised.

Not a banking app

While the ONE JN Passport began with JN Bank, Allen pointed out that the technology is not a banking app. As such, it does not allow customers, once onboarded, to access their bank accounts and transact business.

In its current form, the app leverages information provided to shorten product application processes. For instance, it enables submission of loan applications and supporting documents and receiving approval decisions in mere minutes. If the loan application is successful, JN Bank disburses the funds based on the applicant’s instructions.

“We have created the JN Passport so that Jamaicans don’t need to sacrifice working hours waiting to be seen or produce multiple sets of the same documentation every time they want to do business,” Allen shared.

The ONE JN programme director further outlined that the technology also reduces the cost to provide and access financial services. It eliminates costly paperwork and reduces the processes to acquire financial products.

“There is no need to photocopy ID or TRN, for example. You take a photo with your phone, and we can validate your ID against government databases. That’s faster and convenient and saves both the organisation and the customer time and money,” she explained.

“The whole point of the ONE JN Passport is to really get to know customers and use that knowledge to make business easier for them.  That is the power of the app. In so doing, it positions any Jamaican to maximise their growth potential and financial security, wherever they are.”

Customers can download JN ONE Passport on the Google Play Store for Android devices and from the App Store for Apple (iOS) devices. A mobile site is also available on onejnpassport.com.