Byles accepts blame for JAM-DEX’s slow take-up

FOR every $1,000 in currency issued by Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) at the end of June, less than $1 was in JAM-DEX, underscoring the digital dollar’s limited reach as outgoing Governor Richard Byles accepts that the central bank mishandled parts of its roll-out. Byles, whose tenure ends on August 18, said BOJ waited about two years before involving commercial banks and should have enlisted the Government from the outset to make digital payments a national priority. “Let me take some of the blame,” Byles told the Jamaica Observer during an exit interview.

“If I was to do it again, I would ask the Government of Jamaica to work with the Bank of Jamaica to express to the DTIs (deposit-taking institutions) that the business of digital payments is a matter of national interest,” he said. “It is not just the Bank of Jamaica. It is a national imperative that Jamaica digitises, and the payment system is an important aspect of that.” JAM-DEX is an electronic version of the Jamaican dollar issued by BOJ and accessed through approved digital wallets.

Unlike cryptocurrency, its value does not fluctuate independently. One JAM-DEX dollar is equal to one Jamaican dollar. At the end of June, BOJ reported $311.34 billion in total currency issue, comprising $303.39 billion in banknotes, $7.66 billion in coins and $290.65 million in JAM-DEX.

The digital currency therefore represented approximately 0.09 per cent of the total — about $1 in JAM-DEX for every $1,070 in currency issued. The comparison does not measure how often JAM-DEX is spent. The $290.65 million represents the amount issued rather than the total value of transactions, but it illustrates how small JAM-DEX remains compared with physical cash.

BOJ reported 305,026 registered JAM-DEX users at the end of 2025, an increase of 8.1 per cent over the previous year. Registration, however, does not necessarily mean that a wallet is being used regularly. Of the $260.1 million in JAM-DEX classified as being in circulation at the end of 2025, $144.4 million, or 55.5 per cent, was held by the public.

Wallet providers held the remaining $115.7 million in their digital vaults. BOJ’s published annual figures do not show how many registered wallets are active, how frequently they are used or how much is spent by repeat users. The central bank nevertheless reported increased use during 2025, with acceptance expanding to more restaurants,…