Whatever happened to Jam-dex?

So it’s been about five years since the Bank of Jamaica launched its Central Bank Digital Currency, Jam-dex, short for Jamaica Digital Exchange.

But since then, the take-up has been extremely slow.  It kinda flopped.

Now it actually started off pretty strong. Digital wallets like Lynk offered referral coins to attract users. The Government also gave J$2,500 in Jam-dex to the first 100,000 Jamaicans who signed up as an incentive. That created an early buzz.

But it hasn’t taken off the way officials hoped. And part of the issue is merchant adoption.

Because it won’t matter if you and I have Jam-dex sitting in a digital wallet. If we go to the supermarket and they don’t accept it, we still have to use cash or card.

The whole point of Jam-dex was to reduce reliance on physical cash, lower the cost of handling cash for businesses, and boost financial inclusion for people without traditional bank accounts. On paper, that makes sense.

BOJ Governor Richard Byles has said financial institutions need to do more to support Jam-dex and speed up uptake. But the Jamaica Bankers Association says it’s not that simple.

They argue that upgrading systems to fully support Jam-dex comes with significant costs. And likely some operational disruption too. Think back to when banks had to upgrade their ATMs after Jamaica switched to polymer banknotes. That transition was kinda messy.

The JBA has also pointed out that merchants would need compatible point-of-sale machines. Banks have to integrate new systems. And the truth is, if customers aren’t demanding Jam-dex, institutions are going to be cautious about spending heavily to accommodate it.

So it becomes a cycle. You need more merchants to convince more people. But without more people using it, merchants are hesitant to invest.

This was also going to be the main issue for CBDC. For most Jamaicans, debit cards, online transfers and existing mobile wallets already work fine, and based on the comments on most of my videos about becoming a cashless society, there’s a lot of resistance.

Whether Jam-dex eventually becomes mainstream will likely depend on stronger incentives, clearer everyday benefits, and maybe deeper integration into government payments and services.

And that’s the bottom line.