Come June 12, the BIMPay digital payments platform will be launched and there will be no further postponement, declared Central Bank Governor Dr The Most Honourable Kevin Greenidge yesterday.
Speaking during the Central Bank’s first-quarter review of the economy at the Courtney Blackman Grande Salle, Tom Adams Financial Centre in The City yesterday, he said the original March 31 roll-out date had to be pushed back because several institutions were not ready to connect to the new payments infrastructure.
He said the decision was taken to avoid excluding customers and businesses.
“I was faced with one decision – either extend or close them out till they’re ready, and then you will come and holler, ‘Governor, I can’t pay this bill, I can’t do this, I can’t do that’. So we decided to extend it to June the 12th. That’s important. That’s launch date.”
He was emphatic that the revised deadline would be met. “Yes, we are launching now. Yes, we are launching then. There is no postponing this.”
BIMPay is expected to modernise transactions across Barbados by allowing faster electronic payments between individuals, businesses and institutions.
Greenidge disclosed that nine institutions were in the final stages of readiness testing, with most close to completion.
“Where I am now, and I just did the analysis report this morning, we have nine institutions. Five of them or six of them are above 93 per cent ready on testing. Another is above 83 per cent, so I have almost eight above, and one lagging.”
He praised the work being done by banks and the Central Bank team to get the system over the line.
“My staff are already volunteering and they will run the clock with them. I don’t think the banks have worked harder than ever. They are working super hard and they are fully committed.”
The Governor explained that the main obstacles were not cyber threats, but integrating older systems with the new platform.
Asked about cost, he said BIMPay was being financed by the Central Bank rather than taxpayers.
“The cost to execute BIMPay right now, in putting the infrastructure in place is the Central Bank, not Government. The Central Bank, as you know, is not dependent on Government for financing. We generate our own financing,” he said.
“Don’t focus on the cost. I would prefer us to focus on the benefits that we bring to every person in Barbados.”
Among those benefits he listed were stronger support for small and medium-sized enterprises, which often struggle to access finance because of weak transaction records.
“BIMPay will certainly assist many small and medium-sized businesses in terms of their prepared statements, in terms of becoming more credit-worthy for finance,” he said.
The platform forms part of the broader Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation 2026 reform programme, which Greenidge said was aimed at modernising institutions, boosting productivity and making Barbados more future-ready.
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