Jamaica CBDC Tracker

Jamaica is in the launched phase. The Bank of Jamaica launched its CBDC (called JAM-DEX) in 2022. While the CBDC was one of the first to be officially launched, the central bank has struggled to get people to use it.

CBDC History and Development

In August 2021, the Bank of Jamaica minted a total of J$230 million ($1.48 million) in CBDC. The Bank of Jamaica gave J$1 million ($6,364) to its staff. Bank of Jamaica deputy governor Natalie Haynes said the “issuance and distribution of the CBDC will be fully integrated with the bank’s financial market infrastructure, the JamClear Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS)” and “this consideration and prerequisite that led to BOJ choosing a non-blockchain CBDC option.”

The Bank of Jamaica was officially given the authority to issue a CBDC by the Senate on June 3, 2022. The authorizing legislation was previously passed in the House of Representatives on May 24, 2022.

On July 11, 2022, the Bank of Jamaica launched its CBDC. Citizens can access the CBDC through a mobile app available on both Apple and Android devices. Bank of Jamaica deputy governor Natalie Haynes described the process as having “streamlined and simplified” know-your-customer requirements for people without bank accounts while people with bank accounts will be able to automatically create a CBDC account. However, Bank of Jamaica governor Richard Byles said, “To get a wallet and to use digital currency, you have to join a bank.” So, it is unclear how much the CBDC will help people without bank accounts.

By the end of July 2022, it was reported that over 120,000 people and 2,300 merchants had opened CBDC accounts. For reference, Jamaica has a population of 2,827,377 people, so roughly 4 percent of the population had adopted the CBDC at this time. However, even this limited adoption should be taken with a grain of salt considering it was partly due to the first 100,000 customers receiving incentive bonuses for opening accounts.

Bank of Jamaica governor Richard Byles said the central bank was struggling to get merchant adoption in October 2022. He noted that even ATMs had to be updated to be able to exchange cash for the CBDC.

By February 2023, CBDC adoption had grown to 190,000 people, or almost 7 percent of the population. In an effort to further spur adoption, the Bank of Jamaica announced in March 2023 that there would be three  incentive programs. The first program targeted merchant adoption. It offered J$25,000 ($158) to the first 10,000 merchants to open CBDC accounts by April 1, 2023. Ultimately, the effort proved unsuccessful. Even by September 2024, only 2,379 merchants had formally signed on. The second program targeted consumer spending. It offered 2 percent back on all purchases made with the CBDC (limited to J$5,000 a month). Finally, the third program offered J$2,500 ($15) to the first 60,000 customers to sign up with a “Low KYC Account.”

Bank of Jamaica governor Richard Byles shared in August 2023 that although the only wallet provider thus far had been National Commercial Bank, there would soon be two more providers.

By January 2024, it was reported that around 260,000 people had opened accounts. Commenting on CBDC adoption, Bank of Jamaica governor Richard Byles said, “It was successful to the extent there are people with a wallet to use Jam-Dex, but it was not entirely successful in that many merchants want to use their existing point-of-sale [POS] machines that accept credit and debit cards to handle Jam-Dex and that has caused some delay on onboarding merchants to accept Jam-Dex as a form of payment. They do not want to have to contend with another infrastructure channel.” Given that CBDC proposals often fail to offer unique benefits, it should not be a surprise that merchants have rejected the additional burden.

In February 2024, Bank of Jamaica governor Richard Byles said that the central bank would continue to push forward with its CBDC despite challenges and low adoption. Bank of Jamaica deputy governor Natalie Haynes added that part of the struggle has been maintaining a good customer experience. Merchants do not want to use the CBDC because it requires a separate point of sale terminal. Determined to push forward, governor Byles said, “When you look at all of the cash problems and complaints, fundamentally, digitising is the only solution. All those issues go away with digital transactions, credit cards, debit cards, wallets, CBDC, that’s what we want in this country. The use of cash is really quite high and creates problems that are intractable. People are under threat because of the whole cash security issues.”

Despite claims that two more wallet providers were coming a year earlier, the National Commercial Bank remained the only provider in August 2024. National Commercial Bank CEO Bruce Bowen revealed the bank’s digital wallet has been successful, but the wallet’s CBDC options have been underutilized. Bowen said, “It is simpler for people to use Lynk today without converting to CBDC.”

In September 2024, the Jamaica Observer reported that the Bank of Jamaica successfully completed its testing of dynamic QR codes. The testing was started because merchants did not want a separate machine just to process CBDC transactions. In the same report, Bank of Jamaica governor Richard Byles was also quoted as saying “The central bank digital currency, or Jam-Dex, is one way to ease the pressure off of the use of cash.” To add context, the Jamaica Observer said 80 percent of Jamaican transactions are currently made through cash.

Human Rights and Civil Liberties Concerns

In Jamaica, there have been reports of issues around the treatment of human rights and civil liberties but most of those issues do not tie directly into the issuance or use of a CBDC. Even then, however, it’s important to recognize that the creation of a CBDC could open the door to risks to financial privacy and financial freedom.

For additional information on concerns regarding violations of human rights and civil liberties, see the following reports by Amnesty International, Financial Tyranny Index, Freedom House, Human Rights Watch, Privacy International, and the U.S. Department of State. For additional information on concerns regarding the risks of CBDCs, see the following webpage and report by the Cato Institute: The Risks of CBDCs and Central Bank Digital Currency: Assessing the Risks and Dispelling the Myths.

For additional information regarding metrics, the methodology page explains each of the data points and provides their respective sources.