The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Bahamians were yesterday told “don’t be led like sheep to the digital slaughter” with a businessman arguing that the stance taken by some government agencies in not accepting cash was illegal.

Ethric Bowe, who helped lead the private sector’s push for relief over the New Providence Road Improvement project more than a decade ago, asserted that the public sector as well as businesses must continue to accept cash payments given that the Bahamian dollar remains legal tender.

Pushing back against what he described as efforts to drive Bahamians into “a cashless system”, partly on the basis that the country is not ready for such a move, he told Tribune Business he often carried cash with him as a back-up because he had been “bitten so often” when debit and credit cards did not work.

Mr Bowe, writing in a social media post seen by this newspaper, said: “Many organisations in The Bahamas, including the Government, are refusing to accept cash payments. This is illegal. Bahamian cash in The Bahamas is legal tender. If you are conducting legal business in The Bahamas, you must accept cash as payment. The Government of The Bahamas and its agencies must desist from this behaviour.

“Forcing citizens into a cashless system where they can be digitally monitored and controlled without reference to the people is undemocratic..... Do not be led like sheep to the digital slaughter. There is no payment system as reliable as cash. It works when the power is off and the Internet is down. You can maintain your privacy..... Make cashless an option, not a mandate.”

Mr Bowe’s words are likely to strike a chord with many Bahamians, especially those who believe the Central Bank and commercial banking industry are moving too fast in pushing persons to online, mobile and other forms of digital payments without the necessary education and infrastructure reliability to back it.

John Rolle, the Central Bank’s governor, has said the regulator does not envisage the complete elimination of cash as a transaction and payment mechanism. Nevertheless, the Central Bank wants to reduce and discourage its use in a bid to improve security around the holding of cash as well as increase the finality of payments.

Mr Bowe, an engineer with multiple business interests including Advanced Technical Enterprises, an insurance agency/brokerage and a family farm, told Tribune Business yesterday that The Bahamas needed to walk before it can run when it comes to digital banking. Before going electronic, he argued that the country needs to fix the difficulties encountered with opening a bank account as well as deteriorating customer service across the industry.

“We have a lot of people in The Bahamas and the world who are unbanked,” Mr Bowe said. “They don’t have a bank account. I don’t know why anybody would think that’s reasonable? Why can’t they open a bank account within 15 to 20 minutes? Maybe we need things to open in the financial sector where competition comes in and service goes up and costs go down.

“I’m happy I’m a shareholder in a bank because they pay an awesome dividend. Financial performance is improved, but service is getting worse. It’s just poor. You can’t leave this bank to go to the next bank because service is poor universally.”

Mr Bowe continued: “We have digital access right now. I wanted to buy chicken feed for the farm. It costs $56 for two bags. I had a debit card and it wouldn’t process. I go to a restaurant with my wife and others I know, and we have a wonderful time. They take my debit card and it doesn’t work.

“This has happened to me several times. I don’t want to carry cash around, but I’ve been bitten so often that I take cash out of the bank before I go. Canada has been digital for a while now. They function well there. They don’t have the situation that we have. Things work, and work all the time. And they still accept cash.

“The US will never be out of cash. There’s a large group of people in the US who will not go digital because of freedom concerns. This thing about going digital globally, it’s not possible, it will not happen and nobody should be trying to force it on our people when they cannot deal with it. It doesn’t make sense.”

The Bahamas’ digital banking woes, and those of the wider Caribbean, were brought into sharp relief last month when Royal Bank of Canada’s (RBC) online platform went down. Businesses were unable to make or receive payments, and conduct transactions vital to the smooth functioning of business, after they were “locked out” of their accounts for up to three days.

“Business has not been conducted for three days now due to RBC Online Banking being out of order,” one irate businessman, speaking on condition of anonymity, said. “This is the equivalent to Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) being out of fuel for three days, and the generator can’t run. It’s an absolute catastrophe. Please let us know why this is happening when everything now is done now online.”

Another business owner, also speaking on condition of anonymity, shared a screen shot detailing an “unexpected outage” and saying: “RBC Caribbean Digital App is currently unable to launch. We will investigate the issue and try to resolve it as soon as possible.”

They added: “It’s crazy, and I can’t get any answer. We just cannot access our online accounts. I can’t pay my bills and am not sure how I am going to pay my staff tomorrow [today]. You cannot pay anybody. I am going to have to write my staff a cheque if this goes on like this. It’s been going on for three days.

“I cannot get into my account, I cannot pay anybody, I can’t see if I’ve been paid by anybody. If I go to the bank and get a ledger, they say they’ve been working on it around the clock but this is the third day. I see on Facebook that there are a million people complaining they cannot get access to their account.

“People are complaining that they can’t pay anybody. Some people have tried to sign in and been locked out of their account. It spins and you get this ‘unexpected outage’, or something that appears to be wrong. I got in and paid one bill yesterday, and then it spins and spins and kicks you out.”