ECCB 2022-2023 Annual Report and Financial Statements

Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Annual Report 2022 - 2023

Ecosystem Growth The DCash ecosystem expansion has continued as the pilot project endeavoured to increase the user network. The pilot presently consists of 21 participating financial institutions, 10 agencies and close to 400 merchants within all eight ECCB member countries. The DCash digital wallet, developed in collaboration with the Bank’s technology service provider, has experienced growing

Data Security and Privacy The ECCB recognises the paramount importance of data security and privacy in the digital age. The pilot project implemented a number of security upgrades to better safeguard personal and financial information within the DCash system. Stringent compliance with existing data protection regulations and best practices continued in order to engender the trust and confidence of users in the system.

acceptance and usage. The most active countries by total retail transactions (i.e. involving at least a register-based wallet or value-based wallet or merchant wallet as one participating party) for the year under review are Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, followed by Grenada, Saint Christopher (St Kitts) and Nevis and Anguilla and Saint Lucia. It is expected that platform activity for Montserrat and the Commonwealth Dominica, which were the final ECCU countries in which the pilot project was rolled out, will continue to build over time.

Monitoring and Evaluation

An ongoing process of monitoring and evaluation was implemented to assess the performance and impact of the DCash Pilot Project. That included analysing transaction volumes, payment settling times, stakeholder and user feedback, system and network reliability, and economic indicators. The insights gained from that monitoring and evaluation process will inform future enhancements and ensure the long-term success of DCash.

Merchant Integration The integration of DCash into merchant payment systems has been a focal point of the pilot project. Through the business support personnel in all participating countries, efforts have been made to onboard a diverse range of merchants, including MSMEs, vendors, and service providers. This integration has measurably expanded the acceptance network, enabling consumers to make digital payments using DCash at a growing number of establishments.

Public Awareness and Education To drive the successful adoption of DCash, wider public awareness campaigns and educational initiatives were initiated in the past year. In-country user acquisition activities commenced in October 2022 and have continued in several of the ECCB countries. Trained user acquisition agents have facilitated in-person demonstrations of how the DCash digital wallet and platform work, and have also provided guided on boarding support. Those direct engagements have been

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