Nearly three decades after launching one of the Caribbean’s earliest payment platforms, Audrey Marks is taking Paymaster back under founder ownership. The move comes as digital payments, remittances and cross-border financial services become increasingly important across diaspora communities, creating an opportunity for established local payment networks to evolve into global fintech platforms.
Ambassador Audrey Marks, the original founder of Paymaster Jamaica Limited, has officially reacquired full ownership of the nation’s premier multi-payment agency from regional telecommunications operator Digicel Group. The transaction involves Marks purchasing the 80% majority equity stake previously held by Digicel in APM Holdings Limited, the parent company of Paymaster. While financial terms of the buyout remain undisclosed, the agreement successfully concludes a series of structural corporate discussions that initially commenced in 2024. The strategic divestment reflects a shift in focus by Digicel’s new management layer to prioritize core telecommunications infrastructure over ancillary transaction services.
Founded by Marks in 1997 as the first consolidated multi-transaction collection agency in the Caribbean, Paymaster currently operates a vast physical and digital retail footprint across Jamaica, processing bill payments, remittances, and service subscriptions for millions of consumers. Marks, who currently serves as Member of Parliament for Manchester North Eastern and Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Efficiency, Innovation, and Digital Transformation, clarified that she will step away from day-to-day corporate operations. To fortify institutional governance, maintain compliance, and eliminate potential public sector conflicts of interest, Paymaster will onboard an independent, strategic management firm to oversee the next phase of its operational modernization.
The change in ownership marks a return to the company’s entrepreneurial origins, positioning the platform for a massive transformation into a next-generation finTech ecosystem. Under the new growth roadmap, the company plans to scale its digital payment rails globally, specifically engineering online transaction suites and strategic physical access points to serve the expansive Jamaican diaspora across international corridors. By migrating legacy transactional collection frameworks onto agile, cloud-native software networks, the company aims to lower cross-border transaction friction and offer unified remittance and financial management tools tailored for the international market.
What this means for the industry
- Founder-led fintechs are making a comeback. The reacquisition highlights a growing trend of founders reclaiming strategic control of businesses to accelerate innovation and pursue long-term growth opportunities.
- Diaspora banking and payments remain an underserved market. Millions of people living outside their home countries rely on remittances and cross-border financial services, creating a significant opportunity for fintech providers with strong local market roots.
- Payment platforms are expanding beyond bill payments. Companies that began as transaction-processing networks are increasingly evolving into broader financial ecosystems offering digital wallets, remittances, financial management tools and embedded financial services.
- Cross-border payments continue to be a major fintech growth area. Reducing transaction costs, improving speed and simplifying international money movement remains one of the industry’s largest opportunities, particularly across emerging markets.
- Physical and digital channels are becoming complementary. Paymaster’s strategy reflects a broader recognition that combining digital services with physical access points can help drive adoption among customers who still rely on cash-based or assisted financial services.
- Cloud-native modernization is becoming a competitive necessity. Migrating legacy payment infrastructure to modern technology stacks enables greater scalability, faster product development and improved customer experiences.
- Telecom operators are reassessing fintech ambitions. Digicel’s exit reflects a wider industry trend where telecommunications providers are increasingly focusing on core connectivity businesses while divesting non-core financial service operations.
- Regional fintechs are targeting international growth. Rather than competing solely within domestic markets, payment providers are increasingly looking to leverage diaspora connections and cross-border commerce to expand their addressable market globally.
Photo by Kyle Glenn
