Good day everyone,
I hope you are all well and having excellent day, welcome to CryptoGod-1’s blog on all things crypto. In this post I will be looking at Jamacia and how it plans to push ahead with its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) despite ongoing challenges in a bid to help its cashflow and point-of-service issues.
Jamacia CBDC
Back in 2021 Jamacia launched their JAM-DEX central bank digital currency and have recently stated how they are “determined” in getting through CBDC challenges. The governor of the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ), Richard Byles, noted how they are determined to find solutions for the slow roll-out of their CBDC.
There are many nations which were considered early adopters of CBDCs and within this group included nations such as Nigeria, the Bahamas and Jamaica. However, there have been relatively low adoption rates within these countries, and as of March 2022 there were only a recorded 190,000 JAM-DEX users. This low adoption rate resulted in a rolling-out incentive to boost usage.
Speaking at the BOJ’s quarterly monetary policy report press conference on Wednesday the 28th of February 2024, alongside senior deputy governor Dr. Wayne Robinson, Byles noted:
“Being one of the first in the world has its unique challenges. What we are finding in the roll-out is as we address an issue and move ahead, another one pops up. I guess that’s what you get for being amongst the first. You don’t have a road map set out by others, but we are determined.”
The JAM-DEX CBDC was launched into production in April 2022 and it took time for retailers to upgrade their Point of Sale (PoS) equipment. That is still an ongoing issue within the nation, but BOJ Governor Byles did note a willing to fund some of the PoS upgrades in order to support the JAM-DEX QR codes.
Byles also noted the challenges faced by using cash in the jurisdiction which have created the problem of things which are intractable. The cash security issues have created a threat among people, he added. He went on to state:
“When you look at all of the cash problems and complaints, fundamentally, digitizing is the only solution. All those issues go away with digital transactions, credit cards, debit cards, wallets, CBDC, that’s what we want in this country.”
Currently the National Commercial Bank Jamaica (NCB), is the only financial institution to facilitate JAM-DEX transactions. This is done through Lynk wallet, and the circulation of Jam-Dex remains fixed at $257 million more than a year after the minting of Jamaica’s first batch of the currency. There has been the announcement of a second digital wallet provider, JN Bank, which was on-boarded back in December 2022. As of now the bank is finalising its wallet app for public use, with the JN wallet set to go live for CBDC soon.
The BOJ’s deputy governor, banking, currency operations, Natalie Haynes, noted:
“The take-up is still lower than what we desire at this time. The main reason is merchant adoption. Most of the larger merchants would prefer if Jam-Dex payments go through a single point-of-sale machine, so what we are doing is testing a solution in the sandbox for the use of a dynamic QR code.”
Two other banks, the JMMB Bank and First Global Bank, have also stated their intention to incorporate CBDC-related services in their businesses. As of now they have not noted any specified timeline for roll-out. At the last count, according to Haynes, the NCB platform was said to have over 200,000 ‘Lynkies’, or users, who can conduct peer-to-peer transfers and digital payments at over 4,000 micro merchants, predominantly in the food and beverage, fashion, and consumer goods categories. With 260,000 wallet holders out of a population of 2.8 million for now Jamacia is holding off on further promotion of their CBDC due to the PoS issues needing to be resolved, but they are firm in their belief of pushing ahead to ensure the CBDC is widely accepted throughout the nation.
Have a great day.
Peace. CryptoGod-1.
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