MORE entities are set to roll out pilot projects for electronic retail payment services. “We are making good progress, quite a few companies have asked for permission to do pilot projects,” said Livingston Morrison, deputy governor at the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ). “We are working on approvals.”

The central bank recently approved the E-Payment Group as an existing electronic and retail payment service provider.

Electronic retail payment services include e-money: these are stored in devices such as mobile phones and SIM cards.

And after a successful conclusion of the pilot phase, a final authorisation for the product will be given.

E-Payment Group for the last five years has been providing these kinds of services, according to Lennox Robinson, director of the company.

“We are card issuers, we are not a bank; we have special permission from the BOJ to issue cards for transactions,” he said. His company offers various loyalty programmes to merchants, lunch cards to companies and airtime top-up.

The deputy governor explained to the Caribbean Business Report that the company is now authorised to do what they have been doing for many years.

“Now that we have a regime, they have been brought under it,” Morrison said.

Under the Guidelines for Electronic Retail Payment Services, existing electronic retail payment services — issuers who collect monies in exchange for value distributed in a retail system — were required to structure their organisations, administrative arrangements, and operations relating to pre-existing electronic retail payment services.

If they store value, can be accessed electronically or magnetically, are issued for funds, can be used to make purchases and are accepted for payment by persons other than the issuer, then they will come under the draft guidelines.

Meanwhile, deposit-taking institutions, including issuers that were jointly providing the services with entities that were not previously authorised, were instructed to take immediate steps to secure authorisation from the BOJ.

Jamaica Co-Operative Credit Union League (JCCUL) got approval to offer its e-payment system — bill payment and phone call minutes top-up — to the 900,000 members among the 38 credit unions that make up the organisation, following the pilot phase, which was conducted across 12 credit unions.

Still, it’s not easy to get approval.

Companies that have applied will have to go through periods of assessment. The first stage is a business assessment that involves a review of the business plans, financial strength, managerial and technical expertise, and the governance and administrative arrangements that will be employed by the applicant.

Once the central bank is satisfied that the company has a legitimate operation, they will move on to doing on-site evaluations.. Moreover, they will be subject to continuous assessments by the regulator.

The BOJ is responsible for the regulation and supervision of clearing and settlement systems in Jamaica.