Business: CIBC's new Boss says "Yeah Mon"

The sitting US President may have raised the bar when it comes to mastering greetings in the Jamaican vernacular, but new CIBC First Caribbean boss Gary Brown, being a musician in his former and even present life, was ceding no ground when he took the podium at a welcome reception at the Terra Nova in his honour.

Preceded by a robust jazz suite from Harold Davis and Friends (Paul Madden -bs; Warren Harris -sx; and Andrew "Pregs" Thompson -dr), Brown adopted the now universal two-word greeting "Yeah mon" which elicited the expected peals of laughter from the clients, friends and well-wishers gathered in the hotel's Venetian room.

Based in Barbados, Brown arrives ata fortuitous time for the bank, which has seen strong capital gains over the past six months.

Brown confirmed the sentiments of other speakers thatthe bank's real growth prospects lay in the retail segment of the business, which it intended to make its presence felt, backed by the considerable resources and stability of its Canadian parent.

The gathering was also reminded of CIBC's strides i nthe digital banking space, including its online portal and its mobile app.\

Business: Bank on Your Phone coming from Grace, First Global

At a time when multinational banks (read "Canadian") have exited or are reducing their presence in Jamaica, the exec team at Grace believe their banking subsidiary, First global, now liberated of its investment service sibling (offloaded for some J$3bn) can reap the benefits of their local knowledge.

That was the word from Grace Kennedy CEO, Don Wehby and his bank cohort, First Global CEO Courtney Campbell, at the venerable giant's most recent AGM, held at its downtown Kingston headquarters.

The GK team believe that their superior customer experience enhanced by ongoing consumer tech, such as "Mobile Banking" (which the bank CEO himself later demonstrated for this writer) will give them a leg-up on their overseas-based competitors.

Consumers can expect to have the last word by end of June, when the Banking by Phone service is rolled out to take its place alongside the exiting Internet banking platform

A selection from Harbour Wines, the rebranded Grace subsidiary

And by the way, GK Group revenues for the year? J$77bn, a 15% increase over 2013, but profits dipped on acquisition costs associated with the purchase of US regional food line La Fe, as Grace continues its push for market presence in North America, Europe and Africa.



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