THE first-ever DCash consumer-to-merchant transaction was successfully completed on Friday, 13 February at Geo F. Huggins’ Foodland in Grenada.
Commenting on this achievement, Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), Timothy N. J. Antoine said, “This transaction is a major milestone in our mission to place DCash in the hands of the people of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU). I congratulate Geo F. Huggins on making history. We are now on the cusp of the public launch of DCash. Get ready.”
He added that the ECCB is planning the public roll out of DCash by the end of March 2021.
The ECCB has begun issuing DCash, which is being used to make purchases, by select consumers from selected merchants as part of the closed segment of the DCash Pilot. This closed segment is the final step before the public launch.
In the next few weeks, the ECCB will continue to work with registered financial institutions, merchants and agents to achieve full readiness for the public roll out in the pilot countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Saint Lucia.
One of the key objectives of the DCash Project is to provide the people of the ECCU with a safer, efficient and cost-effective option for conducting their financial transactions. Consequently, the tagline of DCash is: ‘safer, faster, cheaper’.
DCash is a securely minted digital version of the Eastern Caribbean dollar issued by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank. Consumers can access it via the DCash App on their smart devices. Consumers can obtain DCash from their commercial banks, credit unions or other authorised institutions. In addition to the payment functionalities, users of DCash can send money to friends and family who also use the DCash App.
The DCash Pilot is a key initiative of the ECCB’s transformational agenda as articulated in its 2017-2021 Strategic Plan.
Governor Antoine says, “DCash is about the people of the ECCU. Through DCash, we intend to increase their financial inclusion, competitiveness and resilience.”