Not the mark of the beast
THE Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) is advising that its central bank digital currency (CBDC), which is called Jam-Dex, is not tied to the biblical reference of the mark of the beast in any way.
The issue came up during the Jamaica Observer’s Business Webinar recently which looked at the CBDC after it was noted that banks can choose what technology its customers can use in doing transactions with Jam-Dex.
“Once the central bank issues…Jam-Dex to a wallet provider, it’s for them to provide that CBDC using their innovative payment instrument. It can be a wallet, your smartwatch, it can be a little chip somewhere, it can even be your fingerprint, it all depends,” Griffiths explained. He noted that innovation and technology is not to be feared, highlighting that the process is entirely above board.
However, the reference to the payment instrument being “a little chip somewhere” prompted questions about Jamaican culture and being weary about anything that they can perceive to be the mark of the beast.
However, the BOJ has debunked those claims highlighting that no one is being forced to use Jam-Dex and that Jam-Dex will complement and operate alongside other payment options like cash and the use of debit and credit cards.
Division Chief of the Financial Markets Infrastructure Division at the BOJ, Dr Novelette Panton, said this is one of the cultural issues which will only change overtime.
“That is just something that we have to overcome and it’s not only Jamaica that’s going through that. The introduction of CBDC requires a cultural shift and cultural change takes a little time to come on board so we don’t fool ourselves to say it’s going to happen overnight, it’s the education and promotion that we’ve been doing which will effect that change,” said Panton.
Director of Payment System and Policy Department at the BOJ, Mario Griffiths, agrees, pointing out that it will take a strong public education campaign to help the masses in understanding more about Jam-Dex and how it works.
“It will take time, it’s a gradual shift and understanding of what Jam-Dex is. Certainly we see a lot of cash transactions happening, it’s happening in the remittance area, government payments, transportation and bill payments,” Griffiths stated.
In China, for example, wallet providers use quick response (QR) codes, users can display this barcode in their mobile wallet app in a store and the merchant will scan it to complete the transaction.
“It’s really for the innovation and wallet providers to bring that innovation that can create that wave and demand by consumers and having the acquisition of the small merchants on board and once we build that ecosystem and persons start to recognise that it works, then there’ll be a gradual shift into Jam-Dex,” he continued.
In the meantime, the BOJ has indicated that only wallet provider will have access to customer information and be able to see transactions. The central bank further disclosed that wallet providers will ensure that customer data is protected and kept private. Also, when conducting transactions using CBDC customer identity is not recorded. The system only records the value of the transaction for authentication purposes.
