Jamaican officials have confirmed the development of a digital marketplace that aims to promote the adoption of the JAM-DEX central bank digital currency (CBDC). A report from the Jamaica Observer revealed that the new initiative was led by the Ministry of Industry, Investment, and Commerce.

In essence, this new digital marketplace was designed to improve the adoption of Jamaica’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), JAM-DEX. During Expo Jamaica 2023, Ministry officials confirmed the creation of the digital marketplace and noted that the onboarding of new users will begin shortly. They also revealed that the marketplace could perform the functions of an ecommerce platform, which means that it could allow users to pay for goods and services using JAM-DEX.

Not too many merchants are active on the platform at the time of writing, but the nation’s officials are confident that once new members are onboarded, the project will begin to pick up steam. The marketplace is aimed at new, young businesses, and one of its main goals apart from the promotion of JAM-DEX is to improve financial inclusion and ensure healthy competition in the space. Development and incentive programmes The digital marketplace was created by a group of ITC experts from the private sector, officials from the Bank of Jamaica, and the Ministry of Industry, Investment, and Commerce.

The development project is being led by the Payment platform Lynk, with the group being led by its Chief Product Officer. As for incentives, the Ministry of Finance launched several programmes to increase the adoption numbers of the CBDC. The Ministry announced that it would be giving USD 164 to the first 10,000 merchants that register with the platform.

Moreover, regular users will benefit from loyalty points that can be redeemed as a 2% cashback on purchases. Coingeek.com reports that the Bank of Jamaica has recorded total transaction volumes of only USD 357 million since the launch of the JAM-DEX CBDC. Additionally, less than 190,000 residents signed up for the JAM-DEX wallet.  The project will reduce Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements for residents without regular bank accounts, while merchants will receive a basic CBDC toolkit including stickers.

One of the primary advantages of CBDCs is that they can promote financial inclusion by allowing people who are unbanked or underbanked to become a part of the financial system. According to the Bank of Jamaica, getting a CBDC wallet will be easier than opening a bank account. Furthermore, by spending, transferring, and receiving CBDC, people will create a transaction history that can be used to gain access to loan financing.

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