Brick-by-Bric with Barita Investments

Following an event-filled financial year for Jamaica's eighth licensed financial holding company, whose board and management team reviewed the group's performance for shareholders, while also providing a peek inside a number of customer-facing digital first innovations set to come to market in a matter of weeks.

 

Mark Meyers, Chairman of Barita Investments Limited, addressed those gathered for the 48th AGM.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Myers said, “Barita Financial Group Limited was issued a license by the Bank of Jamaica to operate as a financial holding company and FHC on March 17, 2026. This milestone formally establishes BFGL as the financial holding company for Barita Investments Limited. In January 2026, Barita completed the acquisition of 100% of the issued ordinary shares of Barita Fund Managers Limited, formerly JN Fund Managers Limited.”

He said acquisition represented a strategically important step in scaling Barita’s asset management franchise and expanding its presence in a key growth segment of the financial services market. The group delivered net operating revenue of $8.7 billion and a net profit after tax of 3 billion.

 

The Barita chairman explained that the group has been building out capacity in other domains as well.

 

Barita has diversified into real estate development, establishing a strong pipeline of projects across Kingston, St Mary and St Ann. A new partnership also substantiated.

 

He said, “Cornerstone entered into a strategic partnership with Proven Management Limited. Together, the Cornerstone and Proven platforms span banking, investment banking, asset management, real estate development, rail sector investments, and financial technology. Therefore, providing a strong foundation for scale, resilience, and expansion across Jamaica, Barbados, Cayman, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, the Bahamas, St Lucia, the United States of America and Canada.”

 

Bank of Jamaica also gave its non-objection for Barita Merchant Bank Limited to introduce a new mobile wallet, Brick by Barita, whose utility to operations was described by Dane Brodber, acting CEO, Barita Merchant Bank and CEO designate Berita Financial Group Limited.

 

Brodber said, “We've been working on this in the background for a while, which is why you haven't really heard about us or this that much. But Brick by Barita is really the first step for a mobile mobile banking platform. So, customers on board fully in minutes. In fact, a more reasonable measure here would be seconds and are issued a Visa virtual prepaid card instantly. So, they can transact anywhere Visa is accepted from day one rather than waiting on a merchant network.”

 

A forward-looking gaze may note some changes.

 

He said a digital first platform brings new segments into the formal system and builds a broader customer base for shareholders. This is a scalable growth engine for the years ahead. Pursued deliberately in phases and with full regulatory alignment.

 

Brick by Barita is also in testing phase for a range of features that are typically uncommon to the current Jamaican landscape and may even allow for the introduction of conversational banking. A prospect spoken of by group innovation officer Cornerstone United Holdings USA Stefano D’Ambrosio.

 

D’Ambrosio said, “We envision the ability to have payments, banking, and investments located in one place in the palm of your hand. The road map itself is built out to deliver augmented functionality over time. So, what you're seeing at this point is very much just the introductory phase and what we are going to put to market very soon. But we have the vision to expand that significantly. So, picture being able to say, ‘Hey, Stephano, send $5,000 to X person’.”

 

He continued, “Behind the scenes, the AI would be able to determine is this the person that you're looking for? Yes or no? And execute the transaction. As I mentioned, when we're doing our original research, a lot of what we came across was challenges just in using technology. So, we've made an effort to make this as simple as possible so that absolutely everybody can have access to the things that we are doing.”

 

D’Ambrosio said lending to the overlooked is something that is particularly important to us given the angle of inclusion that with which we have built Brick by Barita.

 

“We've observed that over the years traditional credit models have left certain people out of the financial ecosystem. That should not be the case. So, by building AI models that let us look at other factors that are not necessarily what has been looked at in legacy, it allows us to more clearly understand where we can extend credit reasonably, safely and in better rates for both the consumers and the organization.”