Dear Editor,

I find it strange that for some reason the finance minister is announcing the introduction of a digital currency by next year. Isn’t this process supposed to take much longer to put in place, especially with a troubled country as ours, where scamming is a major problem, and some of us are not that literate?

Will the Government of Jamaica take due diligence to explain to those who are not as literate to the digital world exactly how this digital currency will work, and who exactly will put this currency on their phone or other devices?

Will employers, for example, be able to deposit to their employees’ digital devices their pay in digital currency, and is there a way for these recipients to verify that the money is really in their account?

Will the Bank of Jamaica also make sure that the general public fully understands how this system will work before its implementation?

I would like for the minister and the Bank of Jamaica to fully explain this to all Jamaicans, in both English and patois, so they can fully grasp how it will work and benefit them. They must also explain any fees that will be associated with such currency, who can charge these fees, and how much, if any, these fees will be.

What happens if, for some reason, the system is down and there is no way for one to do any transaction? Would there be any penalties to people and would that penalty be passed on to the Bank of Jamaica or the Government?

Will there also be any repercussions on people’s credit rating? Because as you know that if you fail to pay a bill, regardless of what is happening, your institution or the person you do business with can report your late payment to the credit bureaux, and that will be against your credit rating.

What will happen if a device is stolen and used without your consent? Who will be responsible and what will happen if there is a data breach?

All these things must be addressed before thrusting Jamaicans in this digital currency world.

Robert Clarke

rclarke88@hotmail.com