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Unlocking Guyana’s Economic Potential: The Case for a Local Payment Processor
Dear Editor,
Kaieteur News – What if building a local payment processor is just the thing Guyana needs to do to push compliance targets, regulatory efficiency and commercial bank service evolution? In one letter published September 28th, 2022 titled by SN as “Uninformed federal financial regulation continues to affect the development of our people” and another published October 7th, 2022 titled by SN as “Lack of correspondent banking also hinders software developers, IT sector”, I share my view on key external factors that shape our relationship with money locally. Those letters set up the foundations for the present letter, in which I humbly ask for space to continue the conversation on the idea of constructing a local payment processor.
Editor, permit me to state that technological disruption is the situation in which a new approach to doing something puts pressure on outdated and inefficient methods. The internet is an example of a disruptive technology. It is subversive, meaning no one can control it absolutely, and whether you love it or hate it, you invest in it because its alternatives present unacceptable costs. This subversive idea is most exemplified by powerful banks at the center of the global financial system.
The banking system has been a key investor in the bulk of the world’s internet infrastructure, even though the internet represents their greatest threat to security. Thanks to the banks, our data packets get around the globe at near light speed and the world turns because we use those packets to carry out vital transactions, communications, downloads and uploads. Editor, a local payment processor exclusively for local online payments is potentially a boon to the Guyanese economy/society. The construction of a local payment processor symbolises the social integration of a neat spectrum of stakeholders, all of whom would expand by the introduction of such a project. Making payments easier by making them online in the local context can do a lot of things for us.
For starters, a locally built payment processor can expand the tax base by encouraging new business registrations; it can increase compliance and it can push regulatory actors to improve, upgrade and staff up. What’s more, is that it can facilitate and encourage the growing number of software developers and technologists to adopt cohesive social structures that set examples for the culture of engineering in the country. This too means jobs. Jobs and businesses for those in cybersecurity, for infrastructure (data centers and their organization), for developers, for designers and for the social engineers influencing the creation of a new creative culture in Guyana.
Editor, in conclusion, the establishment of a local payment processor holds the promise of not only streamlining financial transactions and fostering regulatory improvements but also catalyzing the growth of various sectors within the Guyanese economy, from technology to cybersecurity, ultimately paving the way for a more vibrant and innovative future for our nation.
Sincerely,
Emille Giddings
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