Jamaica to benefit from NIDS, digital currency – Price

The implementation of the National Identification System (NIDS) and a digital currency for Jamaica offers many benefits to improving the current business and credit climates, Flow Jamaica’s Country Manager Stephen Price has suggested.

“I am all for the [proposed introduction] digital currency because the more money that we get into the system, the better it is for the Government to plan for players within the space to really participate,” Price told The Gleaner as he discussed the company’s footprint and plans to improve the local telecoms industry.

Speaking on the benefits of being able to properly identify citizens, Price said: “The reality is that the true identification of consumers in the country is a necessity.”

The benefits of the NIDS would also help to close the tax net on avoiders, “making sure everyone pays their fair share”, he said.

The NIDS is intended to be the primary source for identity assurance and verification, and will result in improved governance and management of social, economic and security programmes.

The bill is currently being reviewed by a joint select committee of Parliament.

Being able to properly identify citizens “will [also] push us forward because we really have too much informality in the economy and the Government will be better able to plan”, the country manager said.

With most utility companies now providing credit information to credit bureaus operating locally, the NIDS will also help to unlock credit, he said.

“We are providing information to the credit bureaus and we want to make sure we provide the best data possible,” Price said, noting the implications also extend to providing support for small businesses.

“It is [also] too hard for Jamaicans to get credit to start businesses,” he said. The build-out of the ecosystem to support small business also hinges on being able to readily identify customers, he said.

In February, Flow launched a new unit called Flow Business, aimed at selling more services to entrepreneurs and operators of small and medium-sized ventures.

It features, among other things, professional email services; digital collaboration tools such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom; secure cloud storage; and an e-care payment platform which allows customers to manage online bill payments.

Jamaica is estimated to have around 60,000 SMEs. Price would not be drawn on the percentage of this market that Flow hopes to tap, saying only that the company wants to make a “significant dent in that 60,000 market over the next three years”.

“Small businesses are the engine of growth for the economy. Many of them are already our customers based on our footprint but, at the same time, we want to be that partner that takes them into the online space,” he said.

The Bank of Jamaica is targeting 2022 for national roll-out of the central bank digital currency (CBDC) and has selected eCurrency Mint, a company based in Ireland, as technology provider for the development of the digital currency for the Jamaican market. The central bank has also launched a naming competition for the digital currency.

Jamaican consumers will be able to hold digital currency accounts at banking institutions, including persons who currently hold no bank accounts, as the service will be deployed via a mobile wallet and accessible on smartphones and other mobile devices.

The BOJ said such accounts will not earn interest.

editorial@gleanerjm.com