Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) is pleased to announce the successful use of its Central Bank Digital Currency (JAM-DEX), as a means of payment to facilitate a critical segment of Government payments – the Employment Generation (Christmas Work) Programme.
As part of the National Roll-Out of JAM-DEX, BOJ in collaboration with members of the constituencies of North West St. Andrew and South East St. Andrew, the Constituency Development Fund and National Commercial Bank – Lynk facilitated the payment of wages and the conduct of transactions in JAM-DEX, by select workers employed in the Christmas Work Programme in December 2022.
The facilitation of the use of JAM-DEX for this Government programme involved the onboarding of 3 contractors, more than 100 workers and in excess of 70 small merchants to the Lynk app to facilitate the receipt of wages in JAM-DEX, and the spending of the digital currency within select communities. Merchants who were onboarded were primarily market vendors and owners of food shops, restaurants and bars.
During the period 19 – 23 December 2022, JAM-DEX payments to the value of over $600,000.00 were made to persons across both constituencies who executed transactions with small merchants. Contractors had the option to either make payments to workers in JAM-DEX or in cash by cashing-out (convert JAM-DEX to cash) at National Commercial Bank (NCB) intelligent ABMs (iABMs).
The success of the roll-out of JAM-DEX for the Christmas Work Programme represents the first of other government programmes to be initiated using JAM-DEX, as a safe, convenient and secure digital means of payment and for the furtherance of the inclusion of segments of the population that would otherwise not have been represented in the financial ecosystem.
For more information on JAM-DEX visit www.boj.org.jm or follow us @CentralBankJA on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
