By Lisa Rowe
KINGSTON, Jamaica, (JIS) – Persons using special payment wallets to acquire Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) locally, are being assured that the process is easy.
Digital payment wallets are the platforms being used for transactions involving the Bank of Jamaica’s (BOJ) CBDC – ‘JAM-DEX’.
National Commercial Bank (NCB) has facilitated the provision of the sole digital wallet introduced so far – Lynk.
Chief product officer for Lynk, John Matthew Sinclair, told JIS News that switching from cash to digital currency is instant, noting that there are multiple ways to fund the wallet.
“For the banked customers, you can add your debit or credit card to the wallet and, from there, you can move funds from those instruments into the wallet. If you’re an NCB customer with an online bank account, you can also add [that] to Lynk and you can then move money between Lynk and your bank account seamlessly and immediately,” he informed.
Sinclair said once persons have funds in their wallets, they can acquire CBDC by going to exchange to swap those funds for JAM-DEX.
“If you do have JAM-DEX, you can [also] go to the same exchange, reverse it and move from JAM-DEX to digital cash almost instantly,” he further outlined.
Sinclair advised that there are plans to have a link with the ABM network through Lynk’s partnership with NCB.
“This is very big for the unbanked. Without having a bank account, you can go to an NCB ABM where you see a Lynk sign and be able to cash in and cash out. Just by utilising the phone and scanning a QR code, you can give the instructions for what you want and, for this, you don’t need a bank account or a card,” he further indicated.