Dominica and Montserrat have become the latest countries to launch the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) backed DCash pilot programme as a payment system in the sub-region.
Digital Economy Minister, Cassani Laville, said as payment systems continue to develop and expand, Dominica will do all it can to “foster the use of online payments that safeguards the consumers from online predators”.
The ECCB in March rolled out the digital version of the EC dollar in four of the eight-member Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) member states, namely Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia and in August did so in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
With the launch on Tuesday in Dominica and Montserrat, the ECCB said that the remaining member country where DCash will be launched is Anguilla.
“The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank truly believes that the payment system should work for all, except for illicit actors,” said ECCB Governor, Timothy N.J. Antoine said, addressing the justification for creating the DCash Central Bank digital currency.
“That means it must work for small states and small businesses,” he said, while noting that “payments are too slow and too expensive”.
The free DCash app on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store enables users to send and receive money from their family members, friends or customers who live in the same country or in any other Eastern Caribbean country where DCash has been launched. DCash transactions are processed in real time, with no transfer fees during the pilot project.
DCash, which can be used with or without a bank account, is aimed at achieving three policy goals: payments system efficiency, financial inclusion of the unbanked and under banked populations, and increased resilience and competitiveness in the ECCU.
Laville said Dominica is embarking upon comprehensive cybercrime security programmes to include policy legislation and regulation through the digital transformation project.
“Additionally we will invest in the infrastructure and capacity to mitigate cyber threats, to address cyber emergencies and restore information technology operations in the event of natural or man-made destruction as quickly as possible.”
Laville said Dominic “wholeheartedly embraces the launch of DCash and I encourage merchants, consumers, especially in Dominica, in Montserrat and other participating countries to sign on and use this service”.
He described the app as being ‘quite friendly’ emphasising also the need for continued education for consumers of the use of technology used in the banking sector.
Antoine said that “DCash is an important instrument in what is really the bigger conversation about the buildout of a digital economy for our currency union.
“Our single largest asset as a Central Bank is trust, and therefore we believe we have an obligation to leverage that trust to help build out the digital economy – and we locate DCash as an important advance in the ultimate digitalisation of our economy and society.”
Source-CMC
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