Financial institutions (FIs) in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union(ECCU), are in support of the ECCB’s digital payment platform – DCash – as an avenue for propelling digital transformation and improving financial connectivity across the region.

The ECCB became the first central bank to issue a Central Bank-backed Digital Currency (CBDC) for a currency union in March 2021 with the launch of the DCash Pilot.  In a release the ECCB said since then, 22 FIs from all eight countries of the ECCU have joined the DCash Pilot, enabling their customers to benefit from faster and safer in-country and cross-border digital transactions free of charge during the Pilot.

One year into the launch of the DCash pilot, the ECCB, through its technology partner Bitt Inc. and its in-country DCash technical representatives has conducted a fresh round of training with DCash financial institutions in support of their delivery of DCash services to their customers. In addition to facilitating training, the ECCB is placing special focus on improving the user journey and experience across the DCash platform.

A recent training session complemented a period of monitoring and evaluation of the platform by the FIs following the restoration of service on the DCash platform. The DCash platform went off-line in January, 2022 due to a technical outage following which the ECCB undertook a number of specific upgrades to improve platform resilience.

Speaking on behalf of St. Patrick’s Co-operative Credit Union Ltd, a Pilot FI in Montserrat, Peter D.A. Queeley, General Manager noted that, “The SPCCU is in full support of the ECCB’s quest to provide for easy, convenient and low-cost payments settlement arrangements along with the deepening of the OECS regional integration via improved financial connectivity.”

And, Annette Severin-Lestrade, managing director of National Bank of Dominica Ltd, a Pilot FI, said her organisation is pleased to be partnering with the ECCB in this significant step towards digital transformation in the ECCU.  “NBD aspires to be in the forefront of digital transformation in the financial sector in Dominica and the ECCU.  We therefore embrace this undertaking to provide a more secure, accessible and efficient form of payment for both local and cross-border transactions,” Severin-Lestrade said, adding: “We encourage our customers to register for their DCash wallet and participate in the pilot.”