The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A digital payment provider, which facilitates the National Insurance Board’s (NIB) unemployment benefit payments, yesterday likened its system to a “domestic credit card”.

Sean Smith, SunCash’s business development manager, told Tribune Business that the provider Mr Smith is also now processing the additional 13 week-unemployment benefit extension that is being financed by the government as well as NIB.

“Our process works, because here is what happens,” he explained. “We have been building our network for a while; more than anybody else has. People thought it was risky because they couldn’t see where we were going, but now their situation has come and we are essentially the most extensive network in term of issuing digital payments.

“Our digital payment and our digital network allows you to, if you are a cash-based person, to now go to a Super Value grocery store at any location as well as Solomon’s Fresh Market, Cost Right or Solomon’s in Freeport. You can go to Prescription Parlour Pharmacy or Quality Home Centre. There are so many places where we are offering assistance that it is starting to resemble a domestic credit card. When you think about what a domestic credit card does, it allows you to go to all of these places that accept credit cards and you can pay.”

Mr Smith added: “When you have these challenging times, where our $13bn GDP has been cut by 30 or 40 percent, and unemployment is going on 49 percent, we need to keep the money home and especially for foreign reserves.

“So what we have put in place is so powerful now to allow all of this domestic money to stay floating around that you don’t have to have those credit cards to a number of merchants. We are bringing on more merchants every day that we are becoming the Bahamian domestic credit card.”

Mr Smith said the firm has received no complaints from persons unable to access their benefits through SunCash. He added: “If anyone has come to you complaining about SunCash, you can bring them to me and we can look up what their number is.

“I can tell you what the national insurance issue date is, and I can tell you when they got it. I can tell you the voucher that was given. I can tell you the time they came to cash it. I can give you the history on anyone and anything with regard to our National Insurance payment system.”