Prime Minister Andrew Holness said that the Bank of Jamaica plans to “roll out” its central bank digital currency (CBDC) after the country had a successful pilot of it last year.
If everything goes as planned, Jamaica’s CBDC is going to start up this year.
PM Andrew Holness says that Jamaica is going to start its CBDC this year. During a tweet on February 10, he said that the Bank of Jamaica would roll out its own digital Jamaican dollar in 2022 after a successful pilot in 2021. This is how it would work:
The statement comes after the Jamaican central bank tried a “successful” pilot last year. It was at the end of 2021 that the Bank of Jamaica told the public that three schemes had been tried during the pilot phase.
The statements made by Holness said that the CBDC was a success and that the digital currency will be the foundational infrastructure. “This will be the foundation for Jamaica’s digital payments architecture,” Holness said. “It will help more people have access to money, speed up transactions, and cut down on the cost of banking for the Jamaican people.” Add: The Jamaican bureaucrat also said:
“This is a big step in building a nation of Peace, Opportunity, and Prosperity.”
Jamaica’s CBDC Wallet will work with credit cards and pre-paid cards, says a Sagicor Bank Executive in the country.
China, Nigeria, and Venezuela are just a few of the countries that have used CBDCs. Jamaica’s new CBDC will follow in the footsteps of these countries. There is also a digital euro bill coming out in 2023, the European Commission says. The Federal Reserve has released research and code on its CBDC project.
Bank of Jamaica worked with National Commercial Bank (NCB) and a small number of wallet providers on its CBDC pilot project and a small number of providers. On August 9, Jamaica’s central bank sold about $230 million worth of the CBDC. Holness thinks that more than 70% of the people in Jamaica will start using the CBDC in five years.
Sabrina Cooper, the vice-president of retail banking at Sagicor Bank Jamaica, told the Jamaica Observer that the CBDC wallet will be used for more than just borrowing money from the CBDC.
It’s not just the CBDC that you can have in your digital wallet, Cooper said. You can also have debit and credit cards in it. If you look at what’s going on around the world, the wallet will look just like your physical wallet that you keep in your pocket or in your bag.” Your CBDC or some kind of digital currency cash equivalent, credit cards or even prepaid cards are going to be in there.
Disclaimer: These are the writer’s opinions and should not be considered investment advice. Readers should do their own research.
