LYNK, the fintech arm of the NCB Financial Group, is now rolling out its digital wallet, aiming to provide individuals with a fast and easy way to send and receive money on their smartphones.

Lynk has been approved for testing by the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) and is positioned to be among the first digital wallets to transmit the Central Bank Digital currency (CBDC) once the BOJ signs off on the testing and officially opens CBDC to the market early next year. While Lynk was inspired by leading international solutions such as Cash App, Zelle and Venmo, it was built by a largely Jamaican team.

NCB says its Lynk digital wallet is tailored to solve multiple consumer pain-points under three main pillars — security, speed and accessibility. It added that consumers can created an account in under five minutes with no paperwork and no bank lines involved.

The bank is also looking beyond the fintech business and has expressed an intention to the technology throughout the region.

NCB said security for the product is enhanced through an encryption multi-factor authentication system and latest fraud prevention technology. The bank also said it is confident that “Lynk will drive financial inclusion by opening its platform to all consumers regardless of who they bank with and allowing people without bank accounts to use the application.”

Lynk is currently onboarding merchants ranging from food and beverage providers, beauticians and small service providers and will be rolling out customised solutions for each.

Lynk CEO Vernon James shared, “Lynk’s mission is to empower the Caribbean people to pursue their dreams by using technology to revolutionize finance. After rigorous product refinement of the Lynk app with our NCB family and other internal stakeholders, we wanted to share the experience with the wider population in what we call an ‘open market pilot’. Market feedback in this phase will enable the product developers to further tailor and refine the app in alignment with customer needs.”