Former central banker joins fintech board as chairman

Retired central banker Livingstone Morrison has joined financial payment provider, WiPay Jamaica, as chairman of the board, effective March 5.

WiPay Jamaica, a subsidiary of WiPay Caribbean Holding, serves as a platform to send and receive payment through a series of digital financial products. Some of its services are similar to that of large operators such as Paypal, Stripe, Square, Cashapp and Applepay, but the American providers tend to operate with higher fees, are not linked to local banks, and at times restrict activities for Caribbean nationals.

Morrison, who was a deputy governor at the Bank of Jamaica up to his retirement, describes himself as being “passionate” about financial inclusion and sees WiPay as one path towards achieving this goal.

“COVID-19 taught us that a large proportion of Jamaicans are not being served by the financial system,” said Morrison, referencing as one example the difficulties faced by qualified persons to collect the COVID grant funds under the CARE programme.

“Think about the cash benefits from Government and the chaos that emerged. There are opportunities to use tech to ensure that a lot more Jamaicans are involved in the financial system.”

Morrison said that payment services are the starting points from which other services could emerge. That’s because the unbanked initially require payment services but then need online purses, investing services, financing and insurance services.

Morrison has worked as a consultant for the World Bank and various countries, but not in Jamaica, in-between enjoying his retirement from BOJ about two years ago. Since his departure, the central bank has ramped up plans to work with fintech innovators to get their products developed and into the market through what is called a ‘sandbox’ programme.

Sufficient time has passed, the former central banker indicated, for his involvement with WiPay not to conflict with his former role.

“I have been out of regulation for two years, which would be the reasonable and right thing to do,” he said.

His remit as a deputy governor at BOJ included administration and technical services, finance and technology and payment system and risk management. He also served as the chairman of the Regulatory and Market Oversight Committee of the Jamaica Stock Exchange, and is a director of the JSE, Jamaica Central Securities Depository Limited as well as the JCSD Trustee Services Limited.

“Many people see regulation as a hindrance but, rather, I see it as a defining the scope of the environment one operates within and help to build the confidence of customers,” said Morrison, who was educated at the University of Oxford and The University of the West Indies.

The former central banker’s guidance of the board will “be key in navigating the regulatory space and building upon our financial awareness”, said WiPay Country Manager Kibwe McGann in a statement.

“The concept of money is changing, and WiPay is at the forefront of the technology,” added WiPay Caribbean founder and CEO Aldwyn Wayne. “Mr Morrison’s understanding of the regulatory framework will assist WiPay in achieving its long-term vision of financial inclusion in tandem with compliance and best practices.”

WiPay Caribbean launched in Trinidad in 2016 and has since expanded to Jamaica, Barbados and St Lucia. It has partnerships with Republic Bank and MasterCard. The fintech outfit recently announced an interest in working with regional central banks to create and develop a regional Central Bank Digital Currency in partnership with New York Firm, EMTECH.

steven.jackson@gleanerjm.com