E-money, going cashless and digital currency have all become buzzwords over the past few years, with both the public and private sectors making significant strides to enable TT to benefit from the evolving e-money ecosystem.
In the public sector, the government has legislated the use of digital currency and transactions through the Electric Money Issuer Order, which allowed institutions outside of the banking system to be able to hold money and allow transactions digitally.
Companies such as Pesh Money, PayWise and TSTT’s Paypr were established to facilitate digital transactions, opening the way for people of all walks of life to access and conduct financial transactions in the digital space.
“The idea was to use these e-money issuers and, hopefully, it would be a mechanism to allow people in rural communities. Even people who have an apprehension of the banking system can go to an agent and they could put some into their wallet and they could transact digitally,” said the Institute of Chartered Accountants of TT (ICATT) CEO John Outridge during a panel discussion on e-money, at the Annual International Finance and Accounting Conference at the Hyatt from November 21 -22.
The panel discussion looked at the pros, cons, parameters and considerations for an effective e-money system.
But adoption hit an early snag, as there was a lack of trust in these systems, as well as a lack of knowledge of how to use them.
The panel, which included Outridge; Andrea Ragoo, CEO and founder of Your Virtual CFO, which helps small businesses manage its finances and forensic accounting and audit practitioner Stephon Grey, said more education is needed for better adoption of e-money platforms.
Teaching digital dollars and sense
Outridge said, coming out of a survey, ICATT saw three points that it planned to focus on, the most important of which was to teach people about e-money apps, digital payments and how to use them.
The financial inclusion survey revealed that nearly 60 per cent of the population was not aware of or did not know how to use the apps, and were very apprehensive of the apps and its security.
He added that there wasn’t enough acceptance of digital currency among SMEs, which operates largely in the retail sector and that the lion’s share of transactions in TT are done in cash.
“So, what we are doing right now is rolling out a large public education campaign,” he said. “It is a very huge challenge. In TT a lot of things come down to consumer awareness and adoption.”
He said the campaign included workshops with the differently-abled and collaboration with different institutions, focusing on key groups.
“For example, Republic Bank just launched its complete 100 per cent online portal. To open an account you don’t need to visit a branch. We are holding a session with youths,” he said. “You kind of have to start in different places.”
Ragoo said the the e-money ecosystem may seem daunting to some, because it is something they are not familiar with. She made the point that this is not limited to cu
