The Bank of Jamaica’s (BOJ’s) phased roll-out of Jam-Dex is back on track following the gazetting of amendments to the Bank of Jamaica Act (BOJA) 2020 on June 14.

Jam-Dex is Jamaica’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) which was conducted in a pilot between May to December 2021. While the BOJ targeted the first quarter (January to March) for a nationwide roll-out, there was a need to amend the BOJA to make Jam-Dex legal tender.

Following amendments in the House of Representatives on May 24 and Senate on June 3, Jam-Dex is legal tender alongside the Jamaican dollar while the BOJ is the sole authority to issue CBDC, notes and coins. Jam-Dex is equivalent on a one-to-one basis to the Jamaican dollar.

This will make Jamaica the second Caribbean country to fully implement CBDC after The Bahamas which rolled out the Sand Dollar in October 2020. The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank’s DCash programme was paused after the platform crashed in February. Full functionality was restored in March with several upgrades to the platform.

The BOJ will now begin a national roll-out of the CBDC and is encouraging members of the public to sign up for digital wallets to access Jam-Dex. Currently, only TFOB (2021) Limited, which operates the Lynk app, is allowed to distribute Jam-Dex. TFOB is a wholly owned subsidiary of NCB Financial Group Limited and led by CEO Vernon James.

Several Lynk users saw the addition of $2,500 Jam-Dex in their digital wallet earlier this month which comes from the Government of Jamaica’s (GOJ’s) initiative to get more persons using CBDC. The first 100,000 users to apply for Jam-Dex on the Lynk app after April 1 received that initial deposit from the GOJ which totals $250 million Jam-Dex overall. GOJ also disbursed $250 million or $2,500 each to the first 100,000 persons to sign up for low-risk bank accounts.

There has been some resistance by other commercial banks to onboard Jam-Dex since there is no fee attached with the currency and it’s free to use. In an interview with Bloomberg Television last month, BOJ Governor Richard Byles mentioned that they’re encouraging more banks to get onboard with the CBDC and that banks more than likely will bundle it with other financial products in the digital wallet.

James noted in an interview with the Jamaica Observer in April that the Lynk app will eventually be a super application and Jam-Dex will represent another form of currency within the mobile application.

TFOB has been on an education campaign within the last two months across the island informing persons about the Lynk app and benefits of digital payments. Travelr Taxi Service and several other businesses have begun to use the Lynk app to process payments with micro businesses such as barbers and vendors embracing the use of the mobile application.

BOJ Deputy Governor Natalie Haynes told the media at the quarterly press briefing in May that the BOJ is assessing three more financial institutions under its Fintech Regulatory Sandbox to distribute Jam-Dex. JMMB Bank (Jamaica) and JN Bank Limited have established December 2022 to April 2023 timelines to launch their mobile payment solutions which will include a digital wallet. First Global Bank Limited will incorporate CBDC into the GK ONE mobile application which is currently rolling out various financial services across the Gracekennedy Financial Group.

The Bank of Nova Scotia (Jamaica) Limited intends to provide an update at a later date on the implementation of CBDC.