Janelle Christie
Since its establishment in November 1876, the Victoria Mutual Building Society has shown tremendous growth and is owned by over a million Jamaicans.
According to president and CEO of the VM Group, Courtney Campbell, the institution is owned by its members and not by stakeholders and this allows its members to enjoy real benefits.
VMBS on a mission to “build a future you want, preserving and enhancing your wealth,” held a members meeting at the Ocho Rios Anglican Church Hall on Wednesday, November 30, to recognize long serving members and celebrate membership.
Several members attended and among them were people who have been members of the institution for decades, one member, for over fifty years.
Mr Campbell who was the presenter for the evening was overwhelmed to have so many long serving members in attendance and said, “the older the member, the older the business.”
VMBS has invested millions of dollars for the improvement of customer service.
At the meeting, members were informed about the projects, services and programmes being implemented by the society.
In his presentation, Mr Campbell told the audience that VMBS was named the institution with the lowest fees in a recent survey of banks in the region. According to Mr Campbell, VMBS offers no or low fees on many transactions, lowest mortgage fees and its saving rates are among the highest locally. He said it was the only online mortgage portal in Jamaica.
In addition to all that was said, members also attested to their accounts never going dormant even after they have been inactive for long periods and they are not required to pay dormant fees. “It is always there, sometimes you will even see it with interest,” Mr Campbell said.
PROJECTS AND SERVICES
To give its members and prospective members more options, VMBS introduced five new unit trust products in September of this year. These include: Bond fund i, ii, iii, iv and equity fund.
The company’s real estate website, VMPrealestate.com was also introduced to members. The new website is easy to use and is designed to meet specific need s of users.
VMBS offers money transfer cards, bill payment, and sms notification to fulfill the needs of its customers. They are the Main sponsors of the national prayer breakfast and also the sponsors of the St James under-13 football League. VMBS has also done a number of Labour Day projects, and family and marriage series. Additionally, they have a scholarship award programme for students.
EXCELLENCE AMIDST CHALLENGE
Mr Campbell also elaborated on the challenges the institution faced after Barclay’s bank, one of their major supporters, withdrew their services from the Caribbean region earlier this year.
VMBS still strives to value their customers through focus, integrity, team work, innovation, excellence and has the vision of being the leading Caribbean based mutual provider of financial services and also to be a strong integrated financial group.
Members were given the opportunity to be further informed and expressed their gratitude after Mr Campbell’s presentation as he had also made mention of the business being more successful when they (VMBS) know the customers well.
“A knowledgeable and experienced team is totally committed to helping you secure and build,” he said.
