Here in Trinidad and Tobago, one of the big challenges we face today is still getting paid online and paying people online. As you know, the credit card penetration rate here is still around 10% and that doesn’t differentiate from the people who have multiple credit cards. Therefore, whenever you have your business online and are selling products or taking bookings, in a sense, we are very limited by the pool of people who can actually patronize your business online locally. This is why everyone needs a JMMB account in Trinidad & Tobago.
This is especially true for anybody who is looking to build their online presence and sell to anybody in the world. Currently, if you want to use the most popular and recognized payment processor (Paypal), you need to have a visa card to accept the deposits, as they do not deposit into any bank accounts directly.
In comes JMMB! They are currently the only bank in T&T who has a Visa-Debit card that is linked to a bank account. Before you even begin to attempt to jump in my comments or send me a DM about the Republic bank VTM Cards, remember, Republic bank treats those like a real debit card when it comes to fees. They charge you the cash advance fees anytime you make a withdrawal and you can only hold up to $3000usd on the cards.
JMMB doesn’t have those loading fees or limits on how much you have in your account. Withdrawal fees are the standard bank fees. For shopping online with international brands in US currency, please contact JMMB for the limits as these are subject to change.
However, for local commerce, If you have their black visa debit card, you can spend up to $10k/day in local currency or for the gold visa debit card, up to $20k/day.
Visa Debit cards from banks will change the game of commerce in T&T and even though Scotiabank has announced their own, they still haven’t (or maybe I haven’t seen it) rolled theirs out as yet, followed by the other banks. The sooner the banks roll out their visa debit cards and get rid of Linx cards, the better.
You could send people invoices through platforms like Wipay or Buzzpay, via email or social media and they would simply enter their debit cards to pay you. There will absolutely be no need for your clients to leave their house, stand in a bank line or visit a random agent to pay you via a 3rd party service.
Paypal also integrates with some many of the tools we need as entrepreneurs to help build our businesses online that allow us to get paid as well.
For my ebook sales, I use a digital delivery service that I have integrated into my website to handle the delivery of my ebooks, the money then gets deposited into my Paypal account, which I then deposit into my JMMB bank account.
The more people in Trinidad & Tobago who open an account with JMMB, people can start to pay people for goods and services online. As long as you need to speak to someone to make a sale and get the account information or drive to a brick and mortar store, we lose out on the most important buyer segment…the impulse buyers.
Jeff Bezos (Owner of Amazon) said the most important thing his business has ever introduced was 1-click shopping. It quadrupled sales on their platform.
People want to be able to visit your website, Facebook or IG shop, see the products they want, purchase it and have it delivered to them.
In Trinidad, we lose out on this due to the very low credit card penetration rate. We need to constantly tell people about our bank account numbers so they can either do a bank deposit or online bank transfers. Paywise is another stopgap service but it requires people to leave their house, find an agent and pay in cash, hence this is just not ideal.
So I say to everyone, go get yourself a JMMB account. If you are looking to build your business online beyond the shores of T&T, sign yourself up with JMMB so that you can take advantage of all of the tools you need.
Great Post, will look into getting one.
Your post have been very informative. Thanks for sharing
Just as soon as COVID allows, I’ll go get one as well. Thanks for this.
Enjoyed your article bro. Question: Do you think that JMMB is still unmatched in this area?
Thanks for checking it out. Correct, no other Visa Debit card functions in the full capacity the way that JMMB does.
I really want a Jmmb account but I live in Tobago and though they now have a branch here, they aren’t facilitating sign ups. Is there any way for me to get an account without actually needing to benin Trinidad?
I got a Jmmb visa debit card and I still can not recieve payment via PayPal. PayPal sent the sender a message saying transmission is declined due to a risk associated with his payment. Please tell me what to do ?
You need to ensure you have a TT Paypal account..many of the people getting this error have registered a US Paypal account.
Hi Keron. This article is very informative indeed. I already have a JMMB account
but I need some guidance on how to open a TT Paypal account. Can you help? 🙂
I have a number of videos on YouTube showing how, visit my Youtube Channel.
Great article! I am opening an account today, however, I heard that payments take up to 21 days with JMMB through paypal, is this true?
All depends on Paypal…they will dictate how long or if you have any wait period for deposits…my deposits from Paypal to JMMB are instant.
Is this because your PayPal account is a business account, or did you register it as personal?
Your Paypal whether it’s personal or business doesn’t matter. JMMB can receive the funds.
How can I get the tt PayPal
https://keronrose.com/getting-paid-with-paypal-in-trinidad-and-tobago/
Hi, Great article, thank you for informing. I’d like to clarify a few things. If I’m looking to set up a commerce website or a marketplace store eg. Redbubble to accept international payments, i would have to:
1) Get a JMMB bank account, 2) Set up a Paypal TT account 3) Link my Jmmb account to TTPaypal and is that it?
Would the currency being transferred into my JMMB account be in TTD or USD?
Thanks for your help in advance.
Correct to the steps…and the money will be transferred in TTD.
Hey,
Scotiabank now has Visa Debit cards, would it work in a similar way to JMMB?
No it won’t.
Hello, do you know if they will allow funds to be transferred to my card if I gained those funds by way of online trading?
I have no clue…but once those funds are in your PayPal, you will be able to transfer them.
Hi Keron. Great post. Question, i too would like to open an JMMB account and get paid from Paypal to that account. But is this JMMB account just a regular savings account or does it have a specific name?
It’s a personal account…could be savings or chequings…just make sure you ask for the visa debit card.
Hi keron Can I order stuff online with my Jmmb Visa debit card though PayPal and what is the limit because I usually make big purchases for 5000us and up? Please explain
Jmmb card is $250usd per month…You need to apply for a credit card for larger limits.
Yo sooo there’s JMMB, but what about First Caribbean as an option? They also offer VISA debit cards.
I haven’t tried them as yet and I don’t know anybody who has, unfortunately. Technically though, they should work as it is a Visa Debit Card.
Hi I’m unemployed can I get a jmmb card to link to my Paypal account I’m from Trinidad
You need to ask JMMB this…Give them a call or visit their location.
Hey can I use a Jmmb debit card to do online trading?
I’m not sure…I am not a trader. You can try it out for yourself and see if it works.
Do you still suggest getting a JMMB account with the advent of the colour app?
Yea, you still get the JMMB card…choice is yours.