An executive at one of the country’s top three commercial banks has described as “necessary” the disruptions being experienced due to the sudden reliance on digital technologies because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Ricardo Dystant, chief of digital transformation at JN Bank, said the “chaos” right across the country has forced leadership in both the private and public sectors to show more interest in closing the digital divide.

He was speaking at an online forum, entitled ‘Digitisation of Banking: It’s Impact on Jamaican Pensioners and Youth’ organised by final-year accounting and finance and management majors at the Portmore Community College in St Catherine.

Pointing to data from the University of Technology’s Professor Paul Golding, Dystant noted that there is a near 50 per cent Internet accessibility gap between rural and urban spaces in Jamaica, with urban areas having 64 per cent access to broadband Internet and rural communities only 36 per cent.

The JN Bank chief of digital transformation underscored that the current emphasis on digital adaption is not transitory, and so the issue of Internet availability, and consequently adaption to digital services has to be taken seriously.

“The digital revolution is now. Let us move forward with it,” said Dystant.

“I do believe that we have all come to recognise that this moment in time is not fleeting. Indeed, it is not a period in our lives which will simply pass by, but, rather a present that will be our permanent future,” he told final-year students.

Those comments were supported by Bashevis Pryce, relationship manager at the National Commercial Bank, who noted that the traditional way of banking has become unsustainable. He said although the digitisation of banking services has been taking place for some time now, the onslaught of COVID-19 has fast-tracked several banks’ thrust to digitise services.

Dystant acknowledged that while there are some policies and deliberate actions being taken, efforts need to be ratcheted up to quicken the population’s adaption. Looking specifically at the challenges faced by youth and the elderly, he noted that specific and targeted actions have to be taken to increase the rate of adjustment to the new norm.

He noted, for instance, that many elderly people do not have the skill set to use online tools; and therefore, tend be apprehensive about doing digital banking, or using self-service modes of banking.

“Several are retired and often live alone, and they do not factor in their small pensions or savings, or they simply cannot afford data services or Internet costs, which telecoms companies often package with other services,” said Dystant while Pryce noted that some elderly Jamaicans also suffer from physical ailments that limit their ability to adapt.

Dystant said although youth tend to be generally more comfortable with online tools and services, they too face some serious challenges that undermine their adaption, as they may not be able to provide all the documents required to open an account.

“There are many who are not exposed to banking services itself and, therefore, do not have access because of their lack of employment or underemployment.

“The unemployment rate among our youth is very high, with some 28 per cent of youth 20-24 years unemployed, according to the Statistical Institute of Jamaica and 14.4 per cent of those 25-34 years old without a job,” declared Dystant.