Central Bank to expand accessibility, convenience of electronic payments

May 02, 2018 News

An estimated 77 percent of adults in Guyana have access to the use of a debit card. Yet, the use of debit cards by adults to conduct transactions as opposed to withdraw cash is less than one per year for every 20 adults, or 0.04 per adult per year.
This was found by the Bank of Guyana and the World Bank during an assessment of the state of Guyana’s National Payment System (NPS). Its findings and recommendations were noted in a document called The National Payment System Development Plan.
Expounding further on the matter in its report, Bank of Guyana said that with fewer than 21 ATMs and 159 Point of Sale devices for every 100,000 adults, actual use of the cards is extremely difficult.
Going forward, Central Bank said that there would be a concerted effort by its officers and the payment industry to identify means to expand acceptance of electronic payments.
In this regard, Central Bank said that consideration might be given to encouraging or enabling the use of electronic means to initiate remittance and bill payment at agent locations of non-bank Payment Service Providers (PSP).
PAYMENT SYSTEM
The National Payment System Development Plan which was released by Finance Minister, Winston Jordan, consists of four chapters and five annexes.
Chapter One examines the current state of payment in Guyana. It notes that the Bank of Guyana is the institution responsible for payments. Be that as it may, the document makes clear that there is need to upgrade the laws, regulations and infrastructure for a safe, efficient and modern payment system. The chapter analyses the role of the main players in the current payments arrangement.
Chapter Two examines how the Bank will lead the development of the NPS Strategy. It defines the role of a National Payment System as a series of layers in an inverted pyramid in which each layer is supported by layers beneath it.
Chapter Three explores Guyana’s vision to build a safe, robust, sound, efficient and inclusive payment system that meets the current and future needs of the economy. It proposes the year 2030 as a realistic target for full realization of the NPS vision. However, in the medium term it proposes a 2017-2021 action plan as a first phase on achieving that vision.
The fourth chapter concludes with a highlight of the 2017 – 2021 NPS Development Strategy and plan of actions. The Strategy also has attached five annexes.
The preparation of the payment strategy has been a joint effort of the Bank of Guyana and a team from the World Bank. A preliminary draft of the strategy was issued to stakeholders for their comments in August 2016.

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Central Bank to expand accessibility, convenience of electronic payments

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