Barita Financial Group Limited has announced the controlled pilot rollout of BPay by Barita, a digital wallet offered by Barita Merchant Bank Limited, a deposit-taking institution licensed by the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ).

In a statement Sunday, the company noted that the initiative is “focused on bringing digital financial services directly to communities, campuses and workplaces.”

Barita says BPay was approved by the BOJ following its regulatory review process and is being piloted in accordance with the applicable regulatory framework established by the central bank.

The pilot follows the group’s earlier announcement through the Jamaica Stock Exchange regarding the BOJ’s no objection in relation to the bank’s digital financial services platform.

Barita said BPay is designed to test functionality, assess technical robustness and learn from customers’ experiences ahead of a wider public rollout targeted for the coming weeks.

BPay’s primary focus is on unbanked and underbanked grassroot Jamaicans, including young people and young adults who have had limited access to formal financial services, the company said.

“Financial inclusion requires us to think differently about how we reach people. For many Jamaicans, visiting an office means travelling away from where they live or work, during hours when they are earning a living,” said Mark Myers, chairman of Barita Investments Limited and a director of Barita Financial Group Limited and Barita Merchant Bank Limited.

“We have chosen to go directly to customers and engage them in settings where they feel comfortable. In other words, one of our guiding principles has been to meet the people where they are,” Myers added.

Barita says the pilot is focused on groups connected by their communities, places of study or workplaces.

These locations include students at universities across Jamaica, including The University of the West Indies; the University of Technology, Jamaica; Mico Teachers College; various urban and rural high schools; public sector groups, including police officers and teachers; and employees of several corporate entities.

Barita says community outreach has also been organised through community leaders and elected political representatives from both major parties, helping the group reach residents within the same geographical areas.

“We recognise that people who have had little experience with formal financial services may naturally be sceptical. Working through familiar institutions and community networks gives us an opportunity to build trust, explain the service, answer questions and help people take that first step. It also recognises the social element of how people spend, make payments and interact with one another,” Myers said.

The Barita Group says it has adopted an agile approach, ensuring that the initial rollout of the programme is hallmarked by a limited, simple to use banking and payments application.

Barita says accordingly, during this pilot phase, customers have not been able to deposit or add their own money to their BPay accounts.

Instead, the group says it has provided funds to pilot participants, allowing them to use the service and test its functionality, while it will expand the available features in later phases to allow customers the ability to transfer funds to and from accounts held at other financial institutions.

“This approach allows customers a simple and easy to understand way to become familiar with BPay while giving us valuable information about how the platform performs in everyday use,” Myers explained.

Myers says during the current pilot phase, participants are utilising Barita Group-provided funds to familiarise themselves with the platform while allowing the company to assess functionality, user experience and operational performance in a live environment.

According to the chairman, all funds utilised within the pilot programme, including incentives and grants provided through the platform, have been funded by Barita Financial Group and its subsidiaries as part of the group’s investment in developing BPay and advancing financial inclusion.

He says the group has been encouraged by participation, customer feedback and the ways users have interacted with the service and with one another.

“Many of the people we have reached have never had a bank account before. For them, this is their first banking relationship. We regard that as a tremendous achievement for the pilot. It is an important first step towards greater financial independence and participation in the formal banking sector,” Myers said.

He added that the pilot has also provided a channel for the group to continue supporting Jamaicans through grants and other social initiatives.

“To date, more than J$170 million in Hurricane Melissa relief grants have been distributed through BPay to persons in some of the worst-affected communities. The Group has also supported back-to-school grants and other community-development programmes, demonstrating the platform’s potential to efficiently deliver support and assistance to Jamaicans while advancing financial inclusion,” Myers said.

“Alongside testing the technology, we have used BPay to continue giving back. We see an opportunity for this platform to support social change, deliver assistance and give more Jamaicans a practical gateway into formal financial services,” he added.

He says the response to the pilot has reinforced Barita’s belief that many Jamaicans are eager to participate more fully in the formal financial system when financial services are made more accessible, easier to understand and available within their own communities.

According to the company, the next phase will be a wider mass-market rollout, targeted for the coming weeks and informed by the lessons and feedback gathered during the pilot.

“Our intention is to continue engaging Jamaicans in ways that work for then. Financial inclusion is a longstanding challenge. Addressing it requires us to meet people where they are and make financial services easier to access and use. We look forward to bringing BPay to more Jamaicans as we move into the next phase,” Myers concluded.