NEWLY appointed CEO of MyCash, Eleonora Gabaldon is looking to capitalise on inefficiencies in the banks’ automated banking machines (ABM) network to accelerate user growth of the digital payment solution jointly operated by Digicel Financial Services and Paymaster.

At last count, MyCash had a user rate of roughly 15,000 but Gabaldon wants to aggressively grow that number over the next two years.

She is targeting the unbanked, which is 17 per cent of Jamaica’s population or roughly 476,000 people, in addition to the Millennial demographic — particularly those frustrated by ABM inefficiencies.

“We have a very large network of over 200 agent locations throughout the island and we’re open at times when the traditional financial institutions are not. Also, we see the challenges Jamaicans experience when they go to the ABMs and so most people are not so keen on going to ABMs for several reasons,” Gabaldon told the
Jamaica Observer.

“Our focus is on becoming that platform of choice for all the millennials in Jamaica who are highly digitised and tired of having to walk around with the cash in their pockets,” she continued.

Roughly 70 per cent of Jamaicans are holders of a bank account, but nearly half the population is still being paid in cash or cheque. Being paid in cash or cheque comes with its own challenges, including higher costs to conduct business in the formal banking system.

But for those who do own a bank account, the challenges associated with the ABM networks across banks are mounting. Aside from concerns over physical safety when using the ABMs, customers have long complained about debit card skimming, long lines, and the frequency at which the machines are out of cash or just out of service.

Gabaldon’s role as CEO of MyCash took effect in February. During that time she has been familiarising herself with the ins and outs of the local market as well as the company’s data.

Prior to her role at MyCash, she served as regional head of mobile financial services strategy at Millicom International Cellular SA, a Luxembourgish fixed line and mobile telecommunications services provider operating in Latin America under the Tigo brand.

“Our digital app already has a four-star rating both on Android and iOS, and so the message we are trying to push to customers is the convenience of digital transactions. Our marketing will ensure that customers understand that MyCash is for them on any occasion. It’s a more convenient, simpler, and secure way for them to manage their money,” Gabaldon said.

New Service Offerings

Formerly Digicel MyCash, the mobile wallet allows one to send and receive money across Jamaica as MyCash-to-MyCash transfers; cash in (add funds) or cash out (withdraw) to your digital wallet; buy mobile top-up; and make bill payments. In 2022 the name of the mobile wallet was changed to MyCash by Paymaster, simultaneously with its launch as a product under the Bank of Jamaica’s FinTech Regulatory Sandbox, which is a mechanism to facilitate financial technology innovation testing.

It’s affiliation with Paymaster has since allowed for the expansion of its service offering to include remittance transactions at more than 200 islandwide locations from companies like Boss Revolution and MoneyGram. Still, that’s scratching the surface.

“In the future we are planning to build a merchant strategy that includes micro merchants — but that’s still in the works,” Gabaldon said in explaining the next step for the company.

“But before we do so I think we have to reach scale. We have to make sure that our customers feel confident in having money in their wallets and see the convenience it creates for them, and so giving a specific timeline wouldn’t be appropriate at this point,” she continued.

Additionally, Gabaldon is exploring collaboration with traditional financial institutions to offer additional features such as “bank to wallet”, enabling users access to cash through their mobile wallet.

Gabaldon is also exploring CBDC transactions, which is the digital form of central bank-issued currency. CBDC is legal tender and can be exchanged dollar for dollar with physical cash.

Jamaica’s CBDC is called Jam-Dex, which stands for Jamaica Digital Exchange.

“CBDC is at a very interesting point. We have started to have conversations with the BOJ to explore the possibilities and opportunities of managing Jam-Dex. We are still in the exploratory phases,” she said.

The 2023 National Financial Inclusion Study, which was commissioned by Bank of Jamaica, showed a marked increase in the ownership of mobile wallets across Jamaica. The survey found that the ownership of mobile wallets was twice that of prepaid cards ownership.

Overall, 57.1 per cent of respondents said they had used at least one digital payment method in at least one instance in the 12 months before the study. Conversely, 42.9 per cent had used no digital payment method over the same period.

The amount of Jam-Dex digital currency in circulation remains static at $257 million, due to what BOJ says is the slow roll-out of mobile wallets by commercial banks. The central bank is currently working to modify the existing payment infrastructure to create a more accommodating environment for the acceptance of Jam-Dex, following complaints from large merchants about the incapability of point-of-sale systems to accommodate the currency.