Dionne Rose, Business Reporter

Manager of Bill Express, Michael McNaughton.

The National Housing Trust (NHT) has inked an 'exclusive' deal with Bill Express that will allow mortgage payments at the GraceKennedy subsidiary's 200 outlets islandwide.

The contract is valued at $3.2 million annually, said NHT.

But while Earl Samuels, managing director of NHT, is touting the arrangement as an enhancement on customer service delivery, it comes at a price - $35 per transaction, the standard fee charged by Bill Express for bill payments at its windows.

Said Samuels in a joint release from the companies: "Bill Express will provide our customers with more convenience and ease of making payments. They will also give our customers more flexibility in the times at which they can pay their mortgages."

The deal also creates additional market for Bill Express, which said Tuesday it expects to add another 60,000 to 70,000 clients to its customer base, said manager Michael McNaughton, as a result of the new arrangement, which took effect Monday.

The National Housing Trust has approximately 75,534 mortgagors on its portfolio of clients at February, which means that Bill Express is projecting that nearly all of them will utilise its services.

NHT's estimate was a bit more conservative saying it projects that some 4,000 mortgagors will utilise the service per month, or 48,000 persons per year. The majority of NHT contributors pay directly to the agency at its islandwide network of offices, with NHT advising that approximately 77 per cent make loan repayments via this means, representing $549 million in monthly collections.

Adding to revenues

Earl Samuels, NHT managing director. - FILE

With the NHT contract under its belt, Bill Express now has arrangements to collect monies on behalf of 29 entities, McNaughton said, including utilities, cable and insurance companies, the Students Loan Bureau, internet service providers, and micro finance agencies.

The company controls 18 per cent of the bill-payment market, said McNaughton, but is projecting to grow over the coming years.

"It is adding to our revenues, but it is also differentiating us from a number of the other competitors," he told Wednesday Business. "One of our strategies is to change the complexion (of the client mix) away from straight utility companies to other types of billers as well."

NHT already allows loan repayments via salary deductions, internet and telebanking, standing orders and on-spot at its network of offices islandwide.

dionne.rose@gleanerjm.com