Bahamas

According to Kepios, 85% of Bahamians had access to the internet at the beginning of 2022.

The Bahamas hasn’t introduced an Open Banking framework yet; however, the International Monetary Fund (ITF) has made a recommendation to introduce it while also making adjustments to privacy laws. 

A lack of financial education and business skills, as well as relatively weak standards of protection of consumers’ rights, contribute to a lack of trust between financial service providers and customers in general. This further undermines access to finance. Due to this, the gaps in financial literacy and consumer protection standards need to be addressed.

The ITF also makes a recommendation to design a basic account product for the unbanked. The unbanked population in The Bahamas is driven by different reasons; however, one of them is the fees associated with opening and maintaining a bank account for those of a low income. The introduction of a “basic” bank account with simplified identification (ID) requirements that would allow for initiating and receiving payments, at a low fee for those individuals that have never held an account before could therefore reduce the number of unbanked population.

The ITF recommends implementing an e-government portal for government payment collections. 

There’s a gap in financial education and business skills.