In her first stop on the JN Own Your Journey Tour alongside JN Group CEO, Earl Jarrett, JN Bank’s new managing director, Luwanna Williams, promised to strengthen the service and preserve the personal connection that has distinguished Jamaica National for generations, while listening to the needs of JN members.
She says JN will continue to move with the times without losing its “heart.”
“Jamaica National is committed, and I am committed as your managing director to ensuring that we serve you with heart, while also giving you the best service you require.”
Her promise places members at the centre of her leadership. Although financial institutions may provide similar products and services, JN’s enduring relationship with its members remains an important point of difference, she underscored.
She encouraged members to hold the bank to a high standard.
“I challenge you to demand from us- demand from my team- the best service, because you deserve it as our members.”
Listening and responding to members
For Ms Williams, serving with heart means more than being welcoming. It means listening carefully, responding to members’ needs and ensuring they understand the range of financial solutions available to support their goals.
She noted that, although JN is well known for helping Jamaicans to own homes, the bank provides solutions for entrepreneurs of all sizes and stages of their journeys and the wider business community, along with auto loans, credit cards and other business and consumer products and services. Ms Williams outlined that a key priority under her leadership will be to broaden members’ awareness of these offerings and identify more ways in which JN Bank can partner with them.
Superintendent of Police for St Mary, Anthony Wallace is greeted by Luwanna Williams, Managing Director, JN Bank, during a breakfast meeting on the St Mary-leg of the JN Own Your Journey Tour. St Mary was the first stop of the tour, which will next be in St Ann on October 2.
The ongoing member tour will help to support that objective by creating opportunities for direct conversations in communities across Jamaica. Over the coming months, members will also have opportunities to engage with the managing director and her team through various channels, and she invited them to share their experiences, expectations and suggestions openly.
“The only way for me to give you my best is for me to know directly from you what you require,” she said.
Building on JN’s connection with Jamaicans
The new managing director’s commitment is grounded in an appreciation of the special place JN holds in the lives of Jamaicans, both at home and overseas.
“No matter where you go, the JN name stays with them, and they are very proud,” she told members, reflecting on the organisation’s longstanding role in helping Jamaicans maintain a connection with home.
That connection has remained strong even as the institution has evolved. Since moving from a building society model to a commercial bank, JN Bank has expanded its products and services while continuing to build on its member-focused foundation.
She intends to continue that evolution, she affirmed, by improving service, expanding opportunities for members and retaining the sense of care that has long shaped the JN experience.
A return home
Her appointment also represents a return to an organisation she first joined in 2012. After serving in different companies across the JN Group, leaving to pursue other opportunities and later returning, she described her journey back to JN as a homecoming.
“People only come back to things that are amazing,” she said.
A senior financial services executive with more than 20 years’ experience across wealth management, investment banking and financial regulation in the Caribbean, Ms Williams served in managerial roles across different companies in the JN Group, before serving as President and CEO of PROVEN Wealth. She also served in roles at Capital and Credit Merchant Bank (now JMMB Bank) and the Bank of Jamaica.
As she takes on her new role, Ms Williams says she is ready to grow alongside JN members strengthening the bank’s offerings, raising the standard of service and remaining responsive to the people the institution exists to serve.
“I am here to grow with you,” she said, “and to offer you the best that we have to give.”
For members, her message is both a promise and an invitation: expect JN Bank to serve with heart, demand the quality of service you deserve and continue to make your voice heard.
