ECCB 2021-2022 Annual Report and Statement of Accounts

EASTERN CARIBBEAN CENTRAL BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2021/2022 8

S ince the 31 March 2021 launch of the DCash pilot project, the user base of the DCash payments platform has grown to more than 4,000 wallet holders. The pilot project seeks to develop, test and deploy a digital version of the Eastern Caribbean (EC) dollar throughout the ECCU region. The initiative focuses on how a digital currency can improve the areas of payments system efficiency, financial inclusion of the unbanked and underbanked populations, and resilience and competitiveness. Initially launched in Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Saint Christopher (St Kitts) and Nevis and Saint Lucia, the DCash pilot was extended to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in August 2021, and the Commonwealth of Dominica and Montserrat in December 2021. Complete roll-out to Anguilla is expected by June 2022. Within thepast year, DCashhas obtainedparticipation in thepilot frommore than20of the region’s Financial Institutions and 11 Agencies. Both groups being key channels for customer onboarding. Additionally, the pilot has seen steady increase in the merchant base, a vital group in the DCash ecosystem, as DCash can also be used to purchase goods and services directly from participating businesses.

In January 2022, the platformwent offline due to a technical outage, which resulted in service interruption to all users. In response, critical platform upgrades were undertaken, along with extensive internal testing and stakeholder testing, to restore full functionality. Full functionality of the platform was restored on 9 March 2022. As a result of stakeholder feedback, and as part of the ongoing feature development of the DCash platform, wallet holders nowbenefit fromseveral additional enhancements, including application status notifications, increased wallet application security, and the ability to add accompanying notes to transactions - the latter of which facilitates enhanced recordkeeping and reconciliation for consumers and merchants. The second phase of the pilot will see the introduction of government-to-consumer (G2C) payments and an e-commerce functionality to support wider use of DCash. This phase will also see public education and consumer and merchant acquisition efforts increased significantly in each of the participating pilot countries.

View DCash launch events

EASTERN CARIBBEAN CENTRAL BANK ANNUAL REPORT 2021/2022 8