NCB Capital Markets is complementing the Government’s thrust to transform the island into becoming the Silicon Valley of the Caribbean.

Steven Gooden, CEO of NCB Capital Markets, shares the dream articulated by Prime Minister Andrew Holness two weeks ago of positioning Jamaica as a technology and innovation hub in the Caribbean. Addressing the launch of the 17th Regional Investments and Capital Markets Conference of the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) last Tuesday night, Gooden stated that his entity’s parent group, NCB Financial Group, is already fixed on this endeavour.

He told the audience that NCB is pushing towards this ideal by developing a robust and innovative fintech sector in Jamaica, noting that the banking group is playing a leading role by establishing its latest subsidiary, Lynk, a fintech company.

Gooden posited the idea of Jamaica establishing itself as a global leader in the outsourcing of digital financial services. Noting that “for some time now we have had talks of establishing Jamaica as a centre of international financial services and some groundwork has already been done,” the NCB Capital Markets CEO questioned how market players could build on that work using technology as the differentiator.

He advised that Jamaica is already putting in place the technology and the framework to do digital currencies and digital assets, pointing out that the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) plans for the full roll-out of its new Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) later this quarter. This is in addition to plans to grow the global services sector (GSS/BPO sector) by creating more value-added jobs in the industry offering servicing such as information technology outsourcing, animation and legal process outsourcing.

Gooden drew reference to Vietnam, which capitalised on technological advances to create a booming financial technological hub. According to him, “Vietnam, now on the path to becoming Southeast Asia’s ‘Silicon Valley’, barely had any IT companies 15 years ago. However, now there are close to 14,000 IT businesses spanning hardware, software, and digital content. “

He contended that “as a country and a financial services industry if we do not disrupt the status quo, we risk missing out on the opportunities afforded by the fourth industrial revolution and run the risk of being stuck in a cycle of low GDP growth. Therefore, we must use the pandemic to create significant value for Jamaica by creating a competitive advantage in the global market.”

The NCB Capital Markets CEO told the audience that Lynk will be rolling out a merchant app that integrates with point-of-sale systems. This will allow customers to pay with Lynk or with a QR code at checkout, herein providing more options and convenience for consumers and more opportunities for business owners. This is the Jamaican version of the likes of Apple Pay and Google Pay.

He described Lynk as “a game-changing technology and is Jamaica’s first digital wallet approved for testing by the BOJ through its sandbox for cutting-edge financial technologies. With 30,000 customers signing up for the App in the first 24 hours of its launch, Lynk will be the first wallet to transmit Jamaica’s CBDC scheduled for roll out in March.”

For its part NCB Capital Markets has been rolling out it’s suite of digital solutions aimed at increasing access to investment opportunities. Its GoIPO platform has already added over 70,000 new IPO & APO subscriptions while its investment platform NCB Capital Markets Online has been able to facilitate just over $1.5 billion in retail trades on the Jamaica Stock Exchange over the last two years. The company recently announced that it will be launching its new mobile investment app again aimed at putting the power to invest in the hands of its customers.

Speaking at the virtual launch of the ‘The Reform of Education in Jamaica 2021 Report’ on Thursday, January 13, 2022, Prime Minister Holness shared his insights into transforming the island to become the Silicon Valley of the Caribbean. He said several initiatives are being undertaken in this regard, including the coding in schools programme.

The initiative, which involves a partnership with Amber Innovations Group and Digicel Group, aims to promote coding in public schools. “Coding will be taught from grades one to 13 across all public schools and our youth will acquire basic numeracy, language and problem-solving skills, which are the prerequisites for coding,” the prime minister informed, noting that the objective is to make Jamaica the Silicon Valley of the region.

In addition, he said that plans are moving forward for the building of six new science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) schools.