Opening a bank account in Jamaica
Answer
The general rule applies to you
No exception is recorded for citizens of Dominica on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.
81 exceptions recorded across 33 countries · none match Dominica to Jamaica · Opening a bank account
What a Jamaican bank asks for is set by the Bank of Jamaica's guidance notes on money laundering, published in the Jamaica Gazette Extraordinary in June 2018. They require positive identification from a short list - a valid driver's licence bearing a photograph issued where the person resides, a current passport, a voter's identification card, or a signed employer identity card - plus the customer's address, date and place of birth, nationality, contact numbers, a photograph, and a Taxpayer Registration Number. Two references are required as well, and the guidance says in terms that this applies to customers who are visitors to the island and not transacting business under a work permit. The one relief for a newcomer is on the tax number: the Bank recognises that visitors, people here on a work permit and enrolled students would not reasonably be expected to have one.
At a glance
- Identification
- One of four listed documents
- References
- Two, for customers other than longstanding ones
- Taxpayer Registration Number
- Required, with an exception for visitors, work permit holders and enrolled students
- Authority
- Bank of Jamaica guidance notes, gazetted 14 June 2018as of 2018-06-14
They bind the institution rather than the customer, so a bank may ask for more than they require
Requirements
- Positive identification from the Bank's list: a photographic driver's licence from where you live, a current passport, a voter's card, or a signed employer identity card
- Full name, current and previous permanent address, date and place of birth and nationality
- A Taxpayer Registration Number, or another official reference number where you would not reasonably be expected to have one
- Two references, one of which must come from an independent third party
- A photograph, which for a visitor may be satisfied by official identification that carries one
What applies to you
Nothing changes for a citizen of Dominica
We have no rule recorded that treats your citizenship differently here, so the general rule above is the one that applies to you. That is an answer, not a gap.
What the law says
«(a) valid driver’s licence (bearing a photograph), issued by the authorities in the country in which the person is
resident”.»The stray closing quotation mark is the publisher's.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The central bank and supervisor of deposit-taking institutions. Its guidance notes on the detection and prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, published in the Jamaica Gazette Extraordinary on 14 June 2018, set what a bank must establish before it opens an account.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for what any individual bank will accept: the notes bind the institution and set a floor, and a bank may ask for more. Nor for the obligation itself, which is in the Proceeds of Crime Act and its regulations rather than in the notes.
We re-read it every 120 days. More about this source
«(b) current valid passport;»About this source
The central bank and supervisor of deposit-taking institutions. Its guidance notes on the detection and prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, published in the Jamaica Gazette Extraordinary on 14 June 2018, set what a bank must establish before it opens an account.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for what any individual bank will accept: the notes bind the institution and set a floor, and a bank may ask for more. Nor for the obligation itself, which is in the Proceeds of Crime Act and its regulations rather than in the notes.
We re-read it every 120 days. More about this source
«at least two (2) references (for customers other than longstanding customers)
and customers who are visitors to the island and not transacting business in the course of, or pursuant to
a work permit situation;»About this source
The central bank and supervisor of deposit-taking institutions. Its guidance notes on the detection and prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, published in the Jamaica Gazette Extraordinary on 14 June 2018, set what a bank must establish before it opens an account.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for what any individual bank will accept: the notes bind the institution and set a floor, and a bank may ask for more. Nor for the obligation itself, which is in the Proceeds of Crime Act and its regulations rather than in the notes.
We re-read it every 120 days. More about this source
«Persons who would not reasonably be expected to have TRNs would include citizens of other countries who are:»The list that follows is visitors, people here under work permit or study arrangements, and people in transit.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The central bank and supervisor of deposit-taking institutions. Its guidance notes on the detection and prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, published in the Jamaica Gazette Extraordinary on 14 June 2018, set what a bank must establish before it opens an account.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for what any individual bank will accept: the notes bind the institution and set a floor, and a bank may ask for more. Nor for the obligation itself, which is in the Proceeds of Crime Act and its regulations rather than in the notes.
We re-read it every 120 days. More about this source
Practical notes
The guidance notes bind the institution rather than the customer, so a bank may ask for more than they require but should not settle for less. They are addressed to deposit-taking institutions supervised by the Bank of Jamaica, and the detail of what any particular bank wants is that bank's own matter.
A Taxpayer Registration Number is the hinge of most Jamaican administration, and the Bank's own text treats having one as the normal case. Getting one is a separate errand with Tax Administration Jamaica, which we did not read for this record.
- issuesGuidance Notes on the Detection and Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Activities
Bank of Jamaica
About this source
The central bank and supervisor of deposit-taking institutions. Its guidance notes on the detection and prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, published in the Jamaica Gazette Extraordinary on 14 June 2018, set what a bank must establish before it opens an account.
Standing: Issues the instrument
Cannot be cited for: It must not be cited for what any individual bank will accept: the notes bind the institution and set a floor, and a bank may ask for more. Nor for the obligation itself, which is in the Proceeds of Crime Act and its regulations rather than in the notes.
We re-read it every 120 days. More about this source