The Tribune

Eleuthera residents and business owners discussed digital payments solutions with almost a dozen providers and presenters at the island’s recent second annual Digital Expo.

The event, held on July 19 at the Cancer Society of The Bahamas in Central Eleuthera, was the first in a series of Family Island town hall meetings showcasing digital payment solutions. It was a partnership between the Eleuthera Chamber of Commerce, Central Bank of The Bahamas, Clearing Banks Association, credit unions and digital wallet providers. A second town hall is scheduled for Andros on July 30.

Led by the Pay Fast, Live Digital educational campaign, it was designed to showcase convenient methods for receiving and making electronic payments, whether through digital currency such as the Sand Dollar, peer-to-peer payments or other alternatives that eliminate the need for total reliance cash and paper cheques paper.

The expo also showed the way to greater inclusion in the formal Bahamian financial system of the unbanked and underbanked. John Rolle, the Central Bank’s governor, touted the inclusivity and accessibility of digital payments to Eleuthera residents and businesses.

“The most important part about events like this is being able to share the information about what financial institutions are doing, and also to get the business community to understand what it is that we’re focused on in terms of improving digital payments infrastructure,” Mr Rolle said.

“We expect the regulators and providers of financial services to be held accountable for improving those services and, at the same time, as the regulator and provider of services, we [Central Bank] should be able to indicate the sort of areas which we’ve identified for improvement in services. All of those are based upon the feedback we’ve received from the business community.”

Mr Rolle said demonstrating digital payment solutions was critical for those doing both local and international business, especially in a tourism-driven economy.

“Most of the Family Islands have limited bank facilities - one ATM, one branch - and in some islands nothing that resembles that at all,” Mr Rolle said. “Our goal is to ensure that we transform the way we do financial services in The Bahamas so everyone has the same level of service, and the same level of convenience in accessing those services.”

Presenters included representatives from SunCash, Cash N’ Go, RBC Bahamas, Bank of The Bahamas, Fidelity Bahamas, Mobile Assist and Kanoo Digital Wallet.

The expo featured booths from various stakeholders with live demonstrations, technology-oriented giveaways and prize packages, as well as presentations and a question-and-answer period where attendees were able to share their banking-related concerns and seek direct answers from the Governor as it relates to the modernisation of payment solutions.

Thomas Sands, the Eleuthera Chamber of Commerce president, said the event provided the opportunity for a cross-section of businesses to find the solution that best meets their needs for paying and getting paid.

“To see the number of participants from the banks, and the digital wallets, I think was very important because one of our main objectives was to make sure that we broaden the discussion from the perspective of these financial institutions, digital wallets, proposing their ways and means in which they provide solutions to us as a business community,” Mr Sands said.

Michaela Perpall, Bank of The Bahamas’ merchant service representative, said the one-on-one discussions, interactions with bank representatives and the ability of Eleuthera residents to hold banks accountable while having their questions and concerns addressed helped to build trust, reduce doubts and eliminate confusion.

“The types of questions we received were surrounding more about security for merchant purchases, the ease of doing business, the cost factors involved, and we were actually able to sign up a few new merchants after addressing a few of the concerns they had about the process of doing business,” Ms Perpall said.

The Pay Fast, Live Digital campaign is a two-year initiative designed to increase Bahamians’ level of comfort with digital payments that include credit cards, digital wallets, money transfers, cash apps, online banking and peer-to-peer payments. The aim is to create a widespread understanding of how individuals can pay and receive payments digitally.

Registration for the event was free and Eleuthera represented the first stop of the nationwide campaign.