Jamaica

According to Kepios, 68% of Jamaicans had access to the internet at the beginning of 2022.

Jamaica has passed legislation for the digital infrastructure required for Open Banking as the implementation of the National Identification Systems (NIDS) is now underway, and the Data Protection Act 2020 is passed. The next step would be drafting the Open Banking regulations.

According to The Global Findex Database, 73% of the adult population of Jamaica had bank accounts in 2021, leaving 27% unbanked. A new study conducted by the think tank Caribbean Policy Research Institute, CaPRI, concluded that the real cause of the slow crawl toward financial inclusion is largely due to banks’ disinterest in tailoring products to meet the needs of society’s most vulnerable. This is often due to banks not seeing the low-income customers bringing enough value for investment.

In 2017, the Government of Jamaica launched the National Financial Inclusion Strategy, which has 53 action items and is structured around four main pillars: financial access and usage, financial resilience, financing for growth, and responsible finance – all aimed at improving access to the country’s financial system.

According to Statista, the largest segment is Digital Payments, with a total transaction value of US$908.80m in 2022.

Jamaica ranked 88th out of 134 countries in Wiley’s Digital Skills Global Index 2021.

Jamaica has introduced a regulatory sandbox for Fintechs, which currently covers:

1. Regulated Entities: