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In December 2021 Prime Minister Mia Mottley revealed the launch of a digital bank was imminent while delivering the 16th Patrick Emmanuel Memorial Lecture, Forging a Nation Confronting New Realities. Last week SAGICOR Financial Company Limited (SFC) announced that it will establish a fully digital commercial bank come June or July 2022 through an entity called Sagicor Bank (Barbados) Limited (SBB). It is good to see the private sector stepping up to the plate to deliver on the vision which Mottley shared for Barbados in her address.

For small-island governments, the moment is now to be brave and to be strategic to build new frameworks of economic enfranchisement of our people, recognizing that we can do so not only through renewable energy but through embracing and understanding and deconstructing the power of the digital for our people to be able to … no longer be afraid of speaking and striving toward wealth creation…We need a generation of Caribbean millionaires and Caribbean billionaires if we are going to sustain these economies in our region – a generation of Caribbean young entrepreneurs that convert our particular sensibilities and approaches into billion-dollar global businesses…

Prime Minister Mia Mottley

See relevant link:

What is a neobank? Neobanks are financial institutions that give customers a cheaper alternative to traditional banks. They can be thought of as digital banks, thus having no physical branches, and offering services that traditional banks don’t.

If Sagicor’s digital bank is successful delivering on its mission, it should drastically change the cost of services for certain types of transactions in Barbados. The blogmaster is supportive of any initiative that will benefit the public. Barbados Underground has been highlighting government’s digitalization initiative as well as local fintechs making a splash in the global space.

See related links:

Of related interest, Barbadians who followed the recent budget debate learned that the National Payments System legislation and accompanying Fair Credit Reporting Act will be proclaimed on April 15, 2022 and a National Payments System Council will be in place by April 30th. The objective is to enable the new system to be in full operation by October, 2022. We wish the government well with timely implementation.


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108 responses to “Pressing Ahead with Digital”


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  5. African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved Avatar
    African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved

    Theo…the announcements are in barbadostoday, came even quicker than i thought it would and they have gotten even bigger and more elaborate, my only concern is the mention of extracting reparations on the backs of the descendants of the enslaved from UK and EU, in a SLAVERY ENVIRONMENT that is UAE…..i don’t think it was a suitable conversation while surrounded by well known SLAVERS and the usual suspecst…and would have been much better distilled on the Afrikan continent where it all started among the descendants of everyone…..

    otherwise, we can only hope that the other BIG plans work out for the island and BENEFITS the majority instead of minorities only…

  6. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    David
    that song is now very old. Maybe once the wi-fi coverage was poor, or the population didn’t have access, and ‘apps’ were not yet common…..but??
    The other song is they want out….and while some parts have been slowly shed, what is the value in 4 years without a digital arm. And yes, several of the commercial customers have been similarly slow to adopt digital, which has reduced the pressure on banks.
    maybe it is simply the population resists change.


  7. @NO

    Didn’t want to say it. That has become obvious if you observe the PM willingness to work with regional banks regarding projects:

  8. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    Some years ago, Digicel bought a local firm (forget the name) which did several ‘back end’ roles in the financial space. Shortly after, I noted one of the former owners ended up on the Republic Board. I “assumed” this signalled Republic was scoping digital. But I haven’t noted much in this area.
    On the PM, I recall a comment from another Republic Board member a while ago, so maybe they aren’t friendly either…lol
    Suspect the default strained relations with the financial space, some of which were ‘already strained’.
    I mention Republic because they are regional and have expanded their footprint.


  9. @NO

    His comment should be taken in the same way you explained Tannis from the BCCI sometime ago? He is a spokesman?

    You mean this one?

    Digicel acquires controlling interests in Prism Holdings

    https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business/Digicel-acquires-controlling-interests-in-Prism-Holding
    https://amp.jamaicaobserver.com/business/Digicel-acquires-controlling-interests-in-Prism-Holding

  10. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    Yes that was the company. Don’t follow Digicel so unsure what happened to the entities post acquisition.
    Ince was the person who joined Republic.

  11. African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved Avatar
    African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved

    William….that article is now available to read on my Webflow site….it outlines what is really important right now, as opposed to what the shallow WANT…

  12. de pedantic Dribbler Avatar
    de pedantic Dribbler

    Gentleman you got me truly kerfuffled with the debate above re digital banks… TOTALLY. What exactly is the point attempted to be made @David???

    @Northern, as a former bus exec. you write from experience and action as one very versed in this arena and @Sargeant as I recall you too as a former banker (or worked in the industry) are well versed so I am a lillt amused by all this hullabaloo about Sagicor’s new venture of a ‘digital bank’ . Beyond the fact of the enthusiasm of a NEW venture why is this a BIG deal???

    The reference above re Prism itself establishes how long in the tooth this entire process of digital commerce has been ‘in the works’ (for those who know of the interconnections regionally of that Ed Ince and partners entity).

    Guys, can we get real here. Apart from Prism in Bim there were players in Jamaica and TnT who were carving a major slice of the digital commerce regionally and were ALWAYS closely and deeply ’embedded’ with the banks. …. No need to get prolix here so suffice to say that this same company which originated the “Magna” loyalty program (which they expanded across the region and Latin America) were the same one who managed the regional EC & B’dos bank card switch for years!

    The point I am MAKING is that digital banking is NOT new and is NOW quite a MATURE (product) marketing play … why therefore this noise of Sagicor’s new entry… what am I MISSING gents??

    Also @ Northern when you say above that “Yet, none of Schedule 1 banks with Caribbean arms, have sought to launch them in the Caribbean” I seek clarification. …. Why would they need to SPECIFICALLY carve out a digital bank in a region such as ours where basically all possible customers who NEED banking services have FULL access to them via their online banking platforms.

    A CIBC or Scotia creating specific ‘digital portals’ to tap into under-served or new markets in Canada or Latin America (where years ago they pushed hard to compete with Santander, BBVA etc) or the USA is a TOTALLY different dynamic than our small region of barely 6 million people !!

    I must presume THAT I am NOW TOO FAR removed from current business goings on as I am completely lost re this hype re Sagicor.

    Just saying!!!


  13. @Dee Word

    You maybe confusing actors established to support the financial sector compared to what Sagicor digital bank is meant to be?

  14. African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved Avatar
    African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved

    These want billions of dollars off the backs of descents for reparations….but DON’T WANT.. the work associated with STRIPPING DOWN and decolonizing the island, let alone the whole island chain…in my books that makes them MUCH WORSE than any colonizers….

    but there they are parading around in Slaver countries begging for reparations..

    i will leave the rest for the 2nd book

  15. de pedantic Dribbler Avatar
    de pedantic Dribbler

    @David, re “You maybe confusing actors established to support the financial sector compared to what Sagicor digital bank is meant to be” I surely must be.

    A digital bank is a simply entity in summary: it’s goal is to service a market segment that would possibly not (or cannot) use a brick and mortar service due to locations or whatever of the customer (thus convenience); to satisfy those who don’t need all the other services of said brick & mortar (like loans etc); and indeed basically to get money services into more people’s hands with less complications.

    Now sir, that’s very brief but my point is that there is NOTHING earth shattering about the service itself. As you allude to, the real effort is in the developmental cost (software/app development, security etc).

    As it relates to the regional actors supporting the financial sector , I know that you are aware of the very-close-nexus of one with the other. Of course, there are lines of demarcation but as noted above the bankers buy into the expertise as needed… or buy them outright!

    Lata


  16. @Dee Word

    Until the bank is launched how do you know which services will be offered? You are aware in your neck of the woods banks give loans online? From blogmaster’s research a digital bank can deliver traditional products online.

  17. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    @dpd
    I was never a banker. The advances in technology since I retired, render me a useless actor. I have one child who tells me she “has never been in a bank”.
    Up until recently, the only time I went into a bank is when it didn’t allow me to digitally transfer between accounts in different currencies. So essentially, even the traditional brick and mortar have gone digital. But still are required to offer their ‘non digital’ customers service as they request.
    Barbados is light years behind, because the financial entities have not offered customers many digital options.
    Hence a ‘digital bank’ is a big deal. My worst day in Barbados is always the one where I have to go to a bank. Though the lines at some public offices can be a very close second.


  18. So northern if bajans are not to be able to go physically into banks …what are they supposed to do with the masks.


  19. @Lawson
    I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt and conclude that you made a good joke.


  20. Folks we grew up with internal combustion engines, now we have TESLA, and those vehicles will perform the same duties as the vehicle that requires oil changes, fuel filters, spark plugs etc. The TESLAS of the world don’t require a large dealer and service network to keep their cars on the road. We should look at digital Banks the same way and while they will have their detractors, they will also attract those who want to opt out of traditional banks and accrue the extended benefits that some digital banks will offer.


  21. Some ah wunna real confused about digital banks.


  22. I am tending to agree with the general idea that we may be arriving to cheer a ship that has long since departed.

    As someone has already pointed out, the separation between brick and mortar and digital banking may not be that great. Banks can harness the power of the web and compete with their digital counterpart.

    I can stay at home and deposit checks, make payments and transfer money between different banks. Add to this, banks are utilizing the power of
    available financial apps.

    Unlike other brick and mortar stores, banks are well suited to adopting advance technology. And if they don’t they will be left behind. The brick mortar bank of today is not that of yesterday.

  23. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    @Sarge
    should we be investing in charging stations?
    Kind of like American Tower and Crown Castle in the communication space.


  24. The point of the matter is that this is the first digital bank to be launched in Barbados and is anticipated to spur needed technological advancement in the financial sector. Why some of you will try to throw anything negative at all developments in the country is unexplainable.


  25. The challenge NO with electric vehicles is that we do not have the volume (critical mass) to spur exponential infrastructural development. This was stated by your man Persaud at the post budget analysis.

  26. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    My man?…..lol
    I was really asking @Sarge from a NA perspective.


  27. Barbados is 34 kilometres (21 mi) x 23 kilometres (14 mi).

    How many charging stations would be required for 10,000 electric vehicles ?

    The problem is somebody wants to create a big profit cemtre.

    The range of a Tesla model 3 is 500 km.

    https://www.tesla.com/en_ca/model3


  28. Whether brick and mortar can use apps or not in the future is irrelevant. What’s important is the easier and cheaper access to bankingbservices challenger banks offer. Imagine depositing a cheque via your phone.


  29. “Brick and Mortar” Bank Branches are closing down, but that was just the customer facing side, and now the customers can do the banking instructions that the clerks used to do themselves via these newfangled pooters.

    But, there is more to banks, such as middle and back office processing, reconciliations, treasury, accounting, security, production of documentation statements and those business areas are becoming automated too.

  30. African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved Avatar
    African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved

    Regarding charging stations, you can purchase them and install them at your home….found that out recently apparently a few people on the island already did….heard they are very pricy though but worth every penny..

  31. African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved Avatar
    African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved

    imagine depositing a check by your phone, people been doing it for a while, take a photo of the check and viola…..check deposited…..the wheel has already been invented…and some people got checking accounts outside and living on the island…..been using those services for how long..

    only new to Barbados, some will use the services, some wont..


  32. Ok NO, NO harm no fowl. It is it foul..LOL


  33. Steuspe

  34. African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved Avatar
    African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved

    still waiting for the new invention…


  35. Africa why is it worth every penny.?
    Dont you burn oil to make electricity to charge your car so you can save gas.
    Do you know what the electrical used and time needed to charge vs gas cost is on the island….I would like to know
    Do you know how many people would have to upgrade their electrical service to accommodate quicker charging. do you not have brown outs now
    Get a peddle bike.

  36. African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved Avatar
    African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved

    Lawson..the island has hybrid vehicles, step on the gas and it turns into electric…just like in Canada….you will be shocked at how many people have money on the island and can afford charging ports..

    these acting like everything is so new and fascinating to them…steuppss…i would bet them anything that in the next 18 months-2 years, i will invent something brand new, just like i did in the last 2 years, because that’s what creatives do, of course they will not ever hear about it this time around, but will still be running up and down the blog promoting old inventions as new..

    you can’t find employment for some of them though….get them visas to Ukraine or something…lol


  37. @NO
    Yours@4.04pm
    We already are, last fall my young neighbour told me that he and his wife would be driving to the East Coast in his TESLA, I immediately asked about charging stations and he told me that they were all mapped out on his vehicle through his App. I told him to watch out for the St. Louis du Ha Ha sign on the Highway after he passed Riviere Du Loup and he dutifully sent back a photo. He was able to drive to the east Coast and back without any issues and the Ontario Gov’t has done a 360 in its attitude to EV’s as per this

    https://bit.ly/3wMLNxz

    And this
    https://bit.ly/3JVK8cI


  38. Salemite
    Who said anything about it being new? I was speaking in the present tense, as I have friends with Monzo and Starling accounts-years now. I didn’t Google it, as you did, and pretended to know that “people been doing it for a while”. Staaaaap!🤣🤣

  39. NorthernObserver Avatar
    NorthernObserver

    @Sarge
    Thx for the updates.
    While I know it can be done, there have been a few casts on cross country treks, Today we still have 90%(?) of cars going to gas station vs charging station.
    I will check out the Ont prog when I return.
    My fav sign lol…and it’s Saint-Louis-du Ha! Ha!, don’t forget the ! 😂

  40. de pedantic Dribbler Avatar
    de pedantic Dribbler

    Gentlemen, I will stand down. Clearly I am not up to speed with the new ‘currencies’ of banking.🤦‍♂️

    As far as I knew banks of the brick kind started the move to a more expansive digital presence almost two decades ago … In general Bim may indeed be still behind the curve but @Northern I suspect that many of the younger generation are likely closer to your daughter’s status than not because as you noted “essentially, even the traditional brick and mortar have gone digital” although ” still are required to offer their ‘non digital’ [older generation] customers service as they request.

    Currently there is NO bank that does not have a strong presence in that digital sphere thus a ‘digital bank’ is NOT that big a deal in my mind. I see it like that Tesla car analogy above: If you are going to start a new car making venture today why in the world would you build to make gas turbine engines … a full EV or Hybrid would be the platform for the future. — Ipso facto … why would a new banking venture NOT be a digital presence: the platform of the future!

    So again kudos on the new venture and may it have all the elements for success … just don’t get the over-the-top fanfare about what seems to be the de facto best and most efficient operational business model.

    And 2 x BTWs @David, 1) to ask a simple question of ‘what’s the hullabaloo’ is NOT to be “negative at all developments in the country”… not being negative in the least! … and 2) Good sir, Doesn’t a digital BANK offer basically the same service (or less generally) that a regular bank- just online?? I surely haven’t looked at the charter so loans could certainly be a service of this bank. As I noted above ‘my point is that there is NOTHING earth shattering [or innovatively new] about the [digital banking] service itself’.

  41. African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved Avatar
    African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved

    “I didn’t Google it, as you did, and pretended to know that “people been doing it for a while”. Staaaaap!🤣🤣”

    that’s because you know so much about my business and what i know and what i have to google….did i not say people LIVING IN BARBADOS…have overseas accounts…that can do THE SAME THING that has been done thousands of times before a blog popped up trying to make us believe that this is anything new…

    something,.like trying to make us believe that REMOTE WORK which i spoke of on here YEARS AGO….check the archives…and knew of as TELECOMMUTING in the US OVER 20 YEARS AGO.. was a new invention…..because PLT gifted the concept to the island and alyuh tried to TIEF IT and now rambling on about it being a “hybrid” like it was something new….goddamn frauds..

    and not one of you frowzy fowls living in UK, Canada, US or Europe told her that it was nothing new….let her make an idiot of herself….and got people still laughing at that….worry about me, have you started worrying about my 2nd book yet…..ya should…

    some of you really need the Ukraine experiencde.

  42. African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved Avatar
    African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved

    So you see William….out of all the islands along the whole chain in the Caribbean, ONLY ONE had the fortitude needed to ADDRESS reparatory justice as it should be looked at and the process started to PSYCHOLOGICALLY, socially and FINANCIALLY BENEFIT the descendants of the enslaved, that is Belize, none of the others have the intelligence to take the crucial and direct approach….that is why i wrote that article more so than the stunts the couple tried and met a brick wall…,

    the money/paper hounds can read and learn something NEW…

  43. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    @ WURA
    By now you should have learnt that drowning people will clutch at straws. There is an underlying current of panic and disillusionment but we are trying to “ come up with something; anything, to prove we are doing ok.
    The intellectual dishonesty is at a very high level. Putting the cart before the horse is now acceptable as good governance.
    Don’t let them shut you up ! It’s ridiculous what these frigging apologists come up with .
    Here is the latest piece of bull shit;
    The government raises the pension qualification period from 33 and a third to 40 years.,The police association says that it’s too high / long for them . The AG says that such a consideration is now in the “ prime minister’s office”.
    Now if such a consideration is now in the PM’s office, why declare it public policy. But she also thought that Mr. Kothdiwala was a walk in for the senate.
    Confusion, is the order of the day. The colonial mimic men/ women , are now boxed into a corner.
    In this failed AG’s words: “ it is something that we are willing to put back on the table “

    Fire gine bun Dem.
    Peace.

  44. African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved Avatar
    African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved

    “Don’t let them shut you up ! It’s ridiculous what these frigging apologists come up with .

    would love to see them trying to do that on MY 2 website….wuh dah is where all de exciting articles and books gine be displayed…..they can only watch, read and weep..

    “The colonial mimic men/ women , are now boxed into a corner.”

    Wuhloss…an dem cahn even blame colonizers fuh dah one deh….total comedy, showtime..

    “Fire gine bun Dem.”

    Ase…..RA!!!!

    wickedness…they are yet to ENGAGE the Afrikan DESCENDANTS of the ENSLAVED on the topic of reparatory JUSTICE….but every lowlife from one continent to the next already making plans and have designs for what should happen to what BELONGS TO NONE OF THEM…they have NO RIGHT…..but the disrespectul and insulting to OUR ANCESTORS can’t see themselves…they did not even have the decency to have that discussion PUBLICLY on the Afrikan continent…

    Belize will lead the way….the pretenders and their apologist/nuisance followers can take SEVERAL SEATS…they are USELESS anyway…

  45. William Skinner Avatar
    William Skinner

    The problem is we thought the world would have waited on us. We simply did not get on the IT fast enough. Everyday the technology changes and we are going to be playing catch up unless we make a quantum leap into the future.
    Rather than talk nonsense about leading others into republicanism and declaring ourselves as having the best of this and that, we should be working hard on modernizing our public service rather than blaming public servants and putting them in the well of parliament to be prosecuted by the same politicians, who mess them up on a daily basis.
    We are apparently being mesmerized by political PR and have convinced ourselves that we could have even stopped Putin from his invasion of Ukraine.
    Now we are so much behind the times. that some joker will come along and try to prove that Sagicor’s entry into online banking, is a seismic occurrence.
    Anybody who thinks that an online bank is something to marvel at in 2022 ,is truly disengaged from reality and what’s going on in the world.

  46. African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved Avatar
    African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved

    ” We simply did not get on the IT fast enough.”

    Since Jackass Jones and his swollen headed backwardness in 2010 (note that we are in 2022)….i have grandchildren already entering the field with DOUBLE MAJORS….dah fuh lick dem down…they are always decades behind but will soon regal us with their world-class and first world DIATRIBE….

    “We are apparently being mesmerized by political PR and have convinced ourselves that we could have even stopped Putin from his invasion of Ukraine.”

    i still can’t stop laughing at that one…..lol…they got all the answers but down in a slaver country beginning Europe for reparations for the Afrikan descent population residing on Caribbean islands…we can’t make this up….

    “Anybody who thinks that an online bank is something to marvel at in 2022 ,is truly disengaged from reality and what’s going on in the world.”

    we have long concluded that some on BU live in an alternate world that bears absolutely NO RELATION to corporeality..

  47. African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved Avatar
    African Online Publishing Copyright ⓒ 2022. All Rights Reserved

    correction:

    down in a slaver country BEGGING Europe for reparations,,,,


  48. your problem is your always trying to get on IT, which accounts for unlike japan, or greece your pumping out more than enough replacements.

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