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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4, 2025
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‘Phenomenal’ Apple Pay first as bank’s profit up 6% By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net COMMONWEALTH Bank yesterday disclosed it has become the first bank in the Caribbean to offer Apple Pay to clients after beating first quarter profits from a record-setting 2024 by 6.3 percent. Tangela Albury, the BISXlisted lender’s chief financial officer, hailed as “phenomenal” the tie-up with Apple’s mobile payment service, which will allow the bank’s cardholder clients to use it as a transaction mechanism for in-store, in-app and online purchases. Describing the partnership as a “first” for both The Bahamas and the Caribbean, she signalled that it is part of a wider strategy by Commonwealth Bank to
t $PNNPOXFBMUI IBJMT $BSJCCFBO #BIBNBT MFBEJOH UJF VQ t 'JSTU RVBSUFS QSPmUT IJU N PO MPBO SFDFJWBCMF SJTF t $PSF CVTJOFTT ESJWFT HSPXUI BT MPBO MPTT SFWFSTBM GBMMT improve access to financial services and payment systems with the consumer-focused lender having installed an automated teller machine (ATM) in North Andros - an area where businesses and residents have decried the absence of physical branches. Speaking after the bank saw profits for the three months to end-March 2025 increase by $1.1m year-over-year, rising from $17.4m during the same period in
2024 to $18.5m, Ms Albury told Tribune Business it is “reaping the benefits” from growth in its credit portfolio late last year with loan receivables expanding “significantly ahead of the industry average” by more than 6 percent. The increased transaction volume drove a more than $2m, or 30.8 percent, year-over-year growth in Commonwealth Bank’s fee income to $9.2m. And with net interest income up by 6.5 percent
TANGELA ALBURY for the 2025 first quarter, standing at $32m as opposed to $30.056m for the same period in the prior year, its improvement on 2024’s record results is being driven by its core business rather than loan loss reversals.
‘Cloak and dagger’ Budget backfires over VAT reclaim By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Government was yesterday urged to abandon the “cloak and dagger approach” sparking undue business alarm over reforms such as the VAT deduction restriction for “major” construction projects. Gowon Bowe, Fidelity Bank (Bahamas), told Tribune Business that he understands proposed VAT Act changes appearing to prevent companies from recovering the 10 percent tax they pay on building materials, equipment and other ‘inputs’ for physical expansion valued at $1m and above will not impact legitimate corporate projects. Rather, he explained that the amendments were designed to plug a loophole that has seen some unscrupulous businesses “front”
t #PXF 1MVHHJOH CVTJOFTT AGSPOUJOH MPPQIPMF t )PNFPXOFST HFUUJOH SFGVOET OPU FOUJUMFE UP t 6SHFT ATDBMQFM OPU TMFEHFIBNNFS BQQSPBDI for construction projects actually being undertaken by individual homeowners so that the latter can claim VAT deductions, or refunds, they are not legally entitled to. But, while asserting that the Bahamian private sector will still be able to claim construction-related VAT refunds on bona fide expansion projects, Mr Bowe told this newspaper that much angst and confusion could have been avoided if the Government had explained the proposed reforms and consulted with the
construction industry and other stakeholders in advance. Acknowledging that the change “wasn’t well articulated” in legislation tabled in the House of Assembly last week, the Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) chief said corporate Bahamas had been left to try and determine the basis for, and intent behind, the Government’s policy for itself. Mr Bowe, who headed the private sector’s Coalition for Responsible Taxation when VAT was first introduced in 2015, also agreed that the Government’s failure to
THE Prime Minister yesterday asserted that his administration has “lived up to the promise we made to workers” in the August 2021 pact signed with the two umbrella trade union bodies.
Philip Davis KC defended his decision to sign the Memorandum of Understanding with the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and National Congress of Trades Unions of The Bahamas (NCTUB) while serving as leader of the Opposition, describing it as a “wise decision” since it provided a “mechanism” to respond to the challenges workers faced.
“Yeah, it was a wise decision. And we have lived up to the to the promise we made to workers. We signed that the MoU with the TUC for the purposes of ensuring that workers get their just [rewards] in this country,” said Mr Davis. “The TUC represented them, but this was for the purpose of ensuring that we understand workers’ complaints and concerns, and that we’re able to address it. We were setting up a mechanism to which we could respond to what they claim to be the challenges they face in the workplace, the challenges they’re facing as citizens of this country, and bringing resolution to those challenges.”
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‘Bit of danger’ for banks on conveyancing reform By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
GOWON BOWE provide a complete explanation made it seem as it was “contradicting the whole concept of VAT” as this is a tax paid by the end-consumer and not the business community. “With the $1m ‘major’ construction cap, I know the root cause is a suspicion that some businesses have fronted for development and taken VAT refunds when they are not entitled to do so,” he told Tribune Business. “VAT refunds are for capital development, but homeowners were benefiting from a company claiming the refunds when the
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PM: ‘We’ve lived up to worker promises’ By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net
The recovery of loan loss provisions slowed by more than 70 percent during the three months to end-March 2025, falling from $4.424m during the same period in 2024 to $1.295m. Ms Albury, though, explained that the reduction signals an improvement in Commonwealth Bank’s loan book quality as she predicted the “positive momentum” from the first quarter will carry through the rest of 2025. Detailing the increased benefits that Commonwealth Bank cardholders will enjoy from the Apple Pay and MasterCard partnership, she told this newspaper: “We are the first bank in The Bahamas to bring Apple Pay to our cardholders in The Bahamas, and the first bank to launch Apple Pay in the Caribbean.
PHILIP DAVIS KC The TUC recently announced that itself and its affiliates will not be participating in this year’s Labour Day Parade on Friday, asserting that the Davis administration is not “honouring” their
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BANKS and other mortgage lenders will face “a bit of a dangerous scenario” if reforms rendering all real estate transactions as “void” until recorded are passed by Parliament. Bankers and attorneys yesterday told Tribune Business that this proposed change to the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act threatens to disrupt mortgage lending and, by extension, the wider residential housing market, commercial development and the construction industry by leaving financiers without collateral security for their loans for a potentially significant time period. Andrew O’Brien, the Glinton, Sweeting & O’Brien attorney and partner, who specialises in conveyancing, called on the Government and Parliament to insert “a cure period” into the Bill presently before the latter so that a real estate transaction’s deeds are treated as valid, and legally enforceable, for either 90 or 180 days immediately post-closing. This, he explained, would give a buyer and their attorneys sufficient time to lodge the conveyance with the Registry of Records, as required by the new Bill, while also maintaining the confidence of banks and other mortgage lenders as they would know their security is still valid and protected. The 90-180 day period would also protect the rights of all parties involved, including buyers and sellers. “My big concern is I believe they need to add some period during which an unrecorded deed is valid,” Mr O’Brien told this newspaper, “because the gap between when one closes a transaction and when you have proof the
deed has been recorded can be several months. “The items that often cause a delay would be if the VAT payment is disputed [by the Department of Inland Revenue], which sometimes arises. That comes with the zerorated transfer of shares or, sometimes, the commercial value is challenged. Getting replies on some of the more unusual transactions, like zero rating, and home owner questions takes the Department weeks, and could take several months. “The challenge, if a deed is deemed void until registered, is what security does the bank have after it has released and paid the purchase funds? They’ve got no security for a gap period. What happens if the home burns down or a hurricane hits before the deed is recorded?” Mr O’Brien added that the Bill, if passed into law, will likely create difficulties for new homeowners when it comes to obtaining insurance. “An insurance company, from my experience, they won’t issue a policy until someone has a legal interest,” he explained. “During a sales transaction, the seller - the existing owner - can add a purchaser on to his policy to cover that. But once the transaction is closed that owner no longer has a legal interest, so that policy no longer applies, and if the new owner is holding a void conveyance for a couple of weeks to months, I don’t believe an insurance company will issue a policy.” The Government’s move is being seen as an attempt to drive purchasers, and their attorneys, to ensure VAT due on real estate acquisitions is paid in a timely manner and in full because they will be unable to register the conveyance - and prevent it from being
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PM: Information freedom Act not currently a priority By FAY SIMMONS Tribune Business Reporter jsimmons@tribunemedia.net THE Prime Minister yesterday confirmed fully funding the Freedom of Information Act’s implementation and other anti-corruption mechanisms is not a priority for his administration which is focused on relieving the cost of living crisis. Philip Davis KC, defending his administration’s decision to allocate just $140,000 to the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) in the 2025-2026 Budget despite criticism this is insufficient to facilitate its full implementation, said the Government is instead focused on “bringing relief to the Bahamian people”. “Well, first of all, there’s a misconception as to what the Freedom of Information Act really entails. It doesn’t give unfettered access to information. And it doesn’t, in the scheme of things, doesn’t make available matters that are not already available to the public,” said Mr Davis.
“It’s just that we are interested in getting other things done. When we came into office, our focus was on righting the ship, cleaning up the mess that we met, and that is our focus.” Mr Davis said that although The Bahamas is in a better position, many Bahamians are still “suffering” and he is too focused on reducing the cost of living and crime to prioritise “esoteric” freedom of information matters. “Now that we have done that, we could now look at other things that we need to
implement. And the Bahamian people were suffering. Some are still suffering. And until that suffering is alleviated, things as esoteric as matters of freedom of information, they can’t take priority in my mind when a little baby can’t find food tomorrow. That is what worries me,” said Mr Davis. “When people don’t feel safe in their homes, that is what bothers me. That’s what I buy attention. It’s taking my priorities, trying to make this country a
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