Western Bureau:
THINK OF THE Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS) and mortgages come to mind.
But there is an aspect of the company that does not deal with millions and houses, but significantly less money and business on a smaller level.
It is the Jamaica National Small Business Loans Ltd., a subsidiary of JNBS, with headquarters on Duke Street in Kingston.
Marcia Baugh of JN Small Business Ltd. said the company caters to the informal sector, people who would normally be denied loans by the formal business sector.
Loans are given for existing businesses, which have been operating for at least a year, for anything legal that can be conceived - from clothing, to shops, to hairdressing and haircuts.
For farming, though, the emphasis is on cash crops, in keeping with the nature of the loans. They are short-term, varying from 10 to 50 weeks for repayment. Repayment begins seven days after disbursement and the interest rate is one per cent per week, with the loans ranging from a low of $5,000 to a high of $200,000.
Ms. Baugh noted that even though it is a loan the emphasis is still on savings, therefore the funds are placed in a savings account and the borrower is free to withdraw at will.
JN Small Business accepts household appliances, tools and equipment as loan security and the applicant must be at least 18 years old. Two written references, from persons like a Justice of the Peace, a police officer above the rank of Superintendent and a Minister of Religion, are required.
JN Small Business Loans Ltd. operates from its branches, but there is a way in which the service is made even more widely accessible. "We work out of post offices, where there is no JNBS location," Ms. Baugh said.
The loans are also accessed quickly, as they are disbursed 7 - 10 working days after the application - once everything is in order, of course.
