By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor
nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) top executive yesterday hailed The Bahamas for “leading the revolution” by becoming the first nation to launch a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
Kristalina Georgieva, the Washington DC based Fund’s managing director, said it had been “an honour” to work with the Bahamian Central Bank in developing the Sand Dollar as she and its governor, John Rolle, participated in an IMF panel discussion on “the future of money” and global payments systems.
Mr Rolle described the Sand Dollar as “the glue that will connect the system together” in terms of modernising The Bahamas’ payments system infrastructure, with its digitisation having “started from ground zero” more than a decade ago.
Explaining the rationale for launching the digital Bahamian dollar, he added that it holds out the potential for reduced costs and greater efficiency in payments transactions. Mr Rolle said it also promised greater financial inclusion and access to financial services, especially in remote Family Island communities without a physical commercial bank branch, while also bringing the so-called ‘unbanked’ and ‘under-banked’ into the formal system.
“For The Bahamas, one of the reasons we went in this direction is that we have to provide what we saw as a public good in terms of the upgrade of the infrastructure for the payments system,” he added. “We’re also on a path to modernise our payments system, which we started a decade ago, and as we neared the end of 2017-2018 we focused on introducing new players into this space as a way to accelerate change.”
Besides determining how these new providers would interact with each other and, through interoperability, enable their different clients to exchange funds with each other, Mr Rolle continued: “We wanted to focus on a space where consumer choice could be exercised in terms of payments through the issue of interoperability.
“We started with very little activity on digital and mobile payments” which enabled the Central Bank to work with the private sector to design a suitable payments system architecture. “From that point of view, we saw the Central Bank Digital Currency as the glue that would connect the system together.
“We wanted to provide a highway for financial services where it would be delivered digitally in an archipelagic setting. We wanted to address financial inclusion and financial access, recognising that even though in many cases there may be access to financial services, if not living close to the centres that are being provided with capital investment, you are not always getting the standard of service you may be satisfied with...
“We were starting from ground zero, so it was very easy to add interoperability.” Mr Rolle earlier this week said the Bahamian digital currency’s roll-out will hit “further milestones” next month, with consumers gaining the ability to switch funds between their bank accounts and mobile wallets.
He added that public education on the Sand Dollar will “ramp up” through August going into fall 2021 as the momentum for its nationwide roll-out continues to gather pace.
“We are presently working to launch some of the public education campaign,” Mr Rolle said. “We are very much further along in that process than we have ever been, and that’s going to have some deliberate focus, not just on New Providence but the Family Island communities, where there are greater gaps in access to services on a daily basis.
“The public education campaign will begin to ramp up, as once we get through August into early fall, we are going to be starting that. The very current item we are working on completing is connectivity with the banking system so that there will be two-way connectivity for persons wanting to channel funds from their deposit accounts.
“That work is very advanced, and focused on ensuring integration between mobile platforms and the Automated Clearing House. I anticipate we should hit some of those milestones in August. It’s broken into several steps but we anticipate completing that this year.”
Comments
KapunkleUp 3 years, 3 months ago
How about "leading the revolution" by having affordable and reliable electricity?!
tribanon 3 years, 3 months ago
I can't help but think that a very dangerous experiment is being conducted here by the IMF with the Central Bank of The Bahamas as the guinea pig in terms of exposing our nation's entire financial system to the kinds of cyber attack risks that no other nation would be willing to assume.
JokeyJack 3 years, 3 months ago
Exactly, and from last year June it was very clear that this whole coughing sneezing exercise was simply a "great reset" plan to reset world currencies. Global debts have reached insane levels to where the numbers are practically meaningless. Would you care if you won 12 billion in a lottery or 15 billion? Now ask same question with trillions. See? No difference. When numbers have no meaning, they have to be replaced or "reset" like the odometer in a car "rolling over".
Of course, the masses will sign up to this and 5G phones because they make life so "convenient". If Genersl Lee had these tools, the slaves would have rebelled against the northern soldiers coming to "free" them. The same way many of you have rebelled against me and He who came before me, Jesus Christ.
bcitizen 3 years, 3 months ago
lol with our electric and digital infrastructure?
@coakley4mical 3 years, 3 months ago
CONSPIRACY THEORY OF @JOKEYJACK MAY HAVE SOME POINTS OF REFLECTION.
@JokeyJack Your comment for as conspiracy theory as it seems, the future may reveal that most things points to the fact that Economic Enslavery has slowly been the move for the Caribbean since Jamaica had its stance under a certain leadership, burrowing large amount of money at high interest rates. You must preface a MO (Modus Operandi) which is an associative history and pattern of behavior. Remember this when you go to the polls and vote. You haven't outlined a true motive, but you have linked some pieces together. .
MY SUGGESTIONS FOR YOU AND ANYONE ELSE SEARCHING FOR THE TRUTH SHOULD BE...
Understand what is the IMF, and who governs it and how is it governed. That fact may surprise you! I can tell you it aint da Bahamas. Understand the Slave Triangle, the Slave Trade and who really proliferated from it and became more wealthy. (Hint look at the superpowers back then) Understand who still have; territories and colonies (nope not talking about the USA) in the Caribbean. That may surprise you. If you state that this pandemic is also being utilized to introduce a global change in finance and currency, then you must consider who or which countries have the most to gain. (You may want to look back to history since the common denominator is Slavery and see how did they do it so successfully).See who your politicians, political parties, and news media agencies are in bed with.
TIME TO THINK.
@coakley4mical 3 years, 3 months ago
THE BAHAMAS CENTRAL BANK AND THE SAND DOLLAR CRYPTOCURRENCY AND DIGITAL & MOBILE (D&M) BANKING.
. As it relates to the article. It is about time and these have been the direction that C4M have been pushing since 2008, when it was in the infancy stage. However; the laws on the book needs to be further upgraded in retrospect to D&M cryptocurrency but the Bahamas infrastructure & double redundancy and triple integrity to protect private, personal & confidential information of each user. .
DO YOU REMEMBER.
Let us remember some decade ago how it was revealed that the US had been apparently violating the privacy of Bahamians back then which was via phone and emails. Now imagine when its your money. Besides the infrastructure; is the utilities rates need to reduce by 40% to 65% to be truly effective but in Grand Bahama, the Port Authority in the economic free zone will not give up that kind of monthly profit. Prices in Freeport & The Bahamas are unidirectional, that is they only raise! .
BEFORE THE CONSITIONS ARE SET IN STONE, WE NEED TO CONSIDER...
The Bahamas should either in prototype pilot mode test in an out island constituency district to iron out all the kinks. I say this because The Bahamas would be at the mercy of the super-powerful nations with top notch technology within the Caribbean, like believe it or not Cuba and those from the Lesser Antilles. Remember in March 1980 what Cuba did to the Bahamas and Bahamians because they had a stronger and bigger military than the Bahamas. Well imagine China, Korea, Russia, The Middle East, USA and Canada, The EU - UK, Germany, France, Belgium and The Kingdom of the Netherlands feel unfair trade and practices, they can open an all out attack on the system and cripple the economy worst than ever imaginable, in other words losing our sovereignty, especially if The Bahamas decides to quite the IMF and resurrect a tax heaven. .
STILL REMEMBER..
Remember how Netherlands ubiquitously had the Bahamas blacklisted and the parameters are not in place for the Bahamas to creep before we can walk or run yet. The reason could be because the framework and infrastructure is still fragile. but this seems to be political motivated, maybe to ensure that these FNM support High Tech companies national and international form the gatekeepers to the system. Just think China and Netherlands and think of human rights abuse.
Our internet highway and electricity grid needs vast improvements otherwise we maybe causing more damage than healing. .
Just think from June to November every year or think what happened the last time with Dorian imagine imagine greater than 88% dependency on a system like this means no one might be able to have access to gets their moneys. Have all of these contingencies been considered & resolved? So if this is going at a warp speed starting August it means someone will be making a lot of money and securing contracts that will make them very rich.
The_Oracle 3 years, 3 months ago
Maybe first to launch, but I'd bet the last to be trusted.
@coakley4mical 3 years, 3 months ago
THE_ORACLE YOU HAVE AN INTERESTING POINT OF VIEW (POV).
I can appreciate your comment, because the Bahamas leadership and governance needs to hear from the people, constructive criticism or restructuring it to be constructive. I believe in the dogma that; "it takes friction to sharpen a sword". I understand what you are saying, The_Oracle and you labelled something that needs to be fix. To do that lets understand what is behind that; Corruption is the biggest and most powerful pathogen to National Trust. Just like the 1st step to recovery from addiction is self assessment and admitting that you have the problem. and the next step is taking making an honest effort to resolve the problem, so it does not dominate you, that is the country. So I am glad you admitted it, because corruption is rampant and wide spread throughout the Bahamas and in other countries as well. But let's reach a reference point. Of the 33 other regional relatives, you honestly believe that Bahamas would be lower ranked in trust than some of the Mega-Island Economies within the Caribbean? I know you can't think so. The Bahamas first of all is the only Macro-Island Economic state in the Caribbean with the most potential and capacity to engineer forward, upward and onward, but we need to come together. And please recall our leaders and the HOA represents the majority percentage of where the Bahamas is on the Corruption Index National (CIN). .
REASON TO LOGIC IF WE PUT CORRUPT POLITICIANS IN POWER, THEN HOW CORRUPT DOES THAT MAKE US AS THE ELECTORATE?
Well that subtitle explains it all, that if we put corrupt people in power, then really how innocent are we or how corrupt must we be inside. The thing is every 5 years in the Bahamas since the early 1970's, the Bahamian population has been able to reflect on the decisions we made and correct those the majority of us I want to believe are good in heart and intentions!
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