THE Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (CBTT) has given its approval for PayWise Limited to operate as the country’s first electronic money (e-money) issuer.

E-money refers to monetary value issued and stored on a card, mobile device, or mobile wallet. It may be widely used for making payments to business entities and other individuals with or without bank accounts.

In a release, the CBTT said it has issued a provisional registration to PayWise Limited as an e-money issuer on August 10, 2022. The provisional registration will, however, become effective on September 1, 2022.

“The central bank is granting provisional registration to PayWise along the lines of the E-Money Issuer Order (2020). As such the provisional registration will be for an initial six-month period that can be extended for another six months or converted to full registration,” the CBTT informed Jamaica Observer in response to queries.

Incorporated in 2013, Paywise Limited has been a registered payment service provider with the CBTT since 2019. The company facilitates cash transfers from customers to businesses (C2B) through payments at National Lotteries Control Board terminals.

Its mission is to provide alternative means of payments that are easy to use, convenient and secure. Like banks and other financial institutions, PayWise is required to comply with Trinidad and Tobago legislations on anti-money laundering and combatting the financing of terrorism.

In an interview with Caribbean Business Report, founder and director of PayWise Ian Alleyne said that as an e-money issuer, the company can now facilitate customer-to-business, business-to customer, business-to-business and person-to-person transfers.

He added: “Individuals and businesses will be able to transact but at different account limits. Businesses will have higher account limits than individuals.”

As per the provisional registration, PayWise will need to meet certain conditions before receiving full registration from the CBTT to operate as an e-money issuer. When asked about this, Alleyne said that PayWise will need to update the CBTT on the onboarding of new clients as well as sumbit “periodic reports” on compliance and operations.

The bank also indicated that, “Under the terms of the provisional registration, PayWise will be allowed to enlist new customers in a controlled environment monitored by the central bank.”

This controlled environment, or the CBTT’s Regulatory Sandbox, will allow PayWise to operate for the duration of the provisional registration with “limited amount of customers”. During this period, “the bank may choose to waive one or more registration requirement or may add conditions and limitations on the entity’s operation to protect consumers and mitigate risks to the payment space, while it assesses the entity’s ability to comply with registartion requirments”.

When Caribbean Business Report asked if the e-money registration was a precursor to a central bank digital currency (CBDC), the CBTT responded, “The central bank is still considering the CBDC option but we have no plans to launch a pilot this year.”

The CBTT is currently reviewing other applications for electronic money issuance in Trinidad and Tobago. Moreover, in a July 7 communique, it noted receiving “valuable feedback from companies interested in providing fintech services in Trinidad and Tobago”.