The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) has set the end of this month to start the national rollout of its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), dubbed JAM-DEX.

This was announced by Governor Richard Byles, who declared that the Central Bank is at a point where, “we are… ready [to proceed]”.

Speaking during a ‘Riverside Chat’ panel discussion on digital and cryptocurrency at the just concluded 2022 Jamaica 60 Diaspora Conference, Byles reiterated that the BOJ has spent the “last two years undertaking preparations for the CBDC’s development and implementation.”

He remarked that it has been a “great learning experience”. The BOJ has been encouraging the public to sign up for a digital wallet to access JAM-DEX, which it assures, is “safe, convenient and secure”.

Merchants facilitating CBDC transactions

Governor Byles acknowledged that the targeted merchants still have some work to do to facilitate CBDC transactions, mainly related to the reprogramming and upgrading of point-of-sale machines. “The Central Bank is…waiting on the commercial banks to be in a position to distribute CBDC and to have transactions occurring in the currency,” Byles said.

BOJ director for payment systems and policy, Mario Griffiths, who also spoke at the event, said the bank is proceeding with the sole qualified financial institution onboarded to issue digital wallets, which are required to access CBDC, National Commercial Bank (NCB).

Griffiths said it is envisioned that JAM-DEX will be utilised mainly on a person-to-person level as well as with micro and small merchants.

“These are merchants [who] have a presence on various websites as well as social media within Jamaica. We are considering the corner shops as well,” Griffiths noted. Continuing, Griffiths highlighted noted that there was an ongoing collaboration with other regional central banks on the subject.

“So, we have been having those conversations and documenting certain considerations and incorporating that in our model,” he said.

The BOJ spearheaded the successful CBDC pilot between May and December 2021 with the Houses of Parliament of Jamaica recently ratifying the Bank of Jamaica (Amendment) Act, 2022, which makes CBDC legal tender locally and enshrines the BOJ as the sole issuer.

BOJ deputy governor, Natalie Haynes told journalists during the BOJ’s quarterly media briefing last month that three additional financial institutions were being assessed in the bank’s Fintech Regulatory Sandbox in preparation for distributing CBDC.

She said that these entities are expected to be onboarded by the end of the 2022 calendar year “along with others, hopefully”. The Jamaica 60 Diaspora Conference is being hosted at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade in downtown Kingston from June 14 to 16 under the theme ‘Reigniting a Nation for Greatness’.