Chief Product Officer at Lynk, John-Matthew Sinclair, says the digital wallet is a viable cash replacement alternative.

Lynk, Jamaica’s first digital wallet provider, allows customers to store and transfer funds online, similar to ApplePay and Google Wallet. The wallet only requires a Government photo ID, a tax registration number and biometric data to open an account. Customers can then cash into the wallet via regular bank accounts, credit cards or NCB ABMs.

Speaking on Taking Stock with Kalilah Reynolds, Sinclair said the company has been forming strategic alliances to help build out the services offered through the app.

He said that in the 15 months since the company’s launch, Lynk has onboarded over 220,000 customers and 5000 micro-merchants. 

Sinclair noted that merchants across several industries have signed on to offer customers the option to pay using the digital wallet.

“There’s 7Krave, CSports if you’re interested in watching sports, ShipMe, RocketShip, CafeBlue and quite a few other well known companies,” he said.

Lynk also recently entered the remittance space through a partnership with MoneyGram.

“We wanted to focus on those who are unbanked or underbanked and heavily on cash. And we realised that remittances played a major part in this arena so we partnered with Moneygram and we’ve been doing well with them so far,” Sinclair said.

The CPO said that Lynk has processed over $100 million worth of transactions with MoneyGram since the start of the partnership in March. Sinclair also noted that the company is in the final stages of a deal with the GK Group, which operates Western Union in Jamaica, to offer Western Union services through Lynk.

“Lynk is a cash replacement app,” Sinclair said, adding that Lynk is constantly forming new partnerships and adding new features to build out the Lynk ecosystem and make it more convenient for all Jamaicans.

Issues resolved

Sinclair also noted that the company has resolved several issues and is working on others which have been a pain point for customers over the past several months.

He said the company is establishing a customer service option to allow customers to call and speak with a representative regarding any questions or concerns.

“When we launched, we were so focused on being digital only. So, we focused our customer service to WhatsApp and the Chatbox. But we realise now that, in Jamaica, that not the best option,” he explained.

The Lynk boss said tele-customer service assistance would be up and running by the official start of summer in June.

He also noted that the company created new internal and external protocols with its banking partners to ensure customers are notified if they are issuing funding or cashing out their Lynk wallets.

“So, we do sincerely apologise for the inconvenience but what it tells us is that the customers care,” he said.

“They care and they want us to do well and that’s important to us,” he added.