Financial experts have called for a harmonised regulatory framework across the Caribbean to boost the region’s attractiveness to global fintech companies and address local challenges such as financial inclusion.
The appeal came during the FIX25 FinTech Conference at the Wyndham Grand Barbados Sam Lords Castle, where industry leaders speaking to Barbados TODAY emphasised the need for swift action to establish the region as a fintech hub.
Principal and founder of FT Legal, Tara Frater, noted that fragmented regulations across the Caribbean limit the region’s appeal to multinational fintech companies.
“Our size means we’re more attractive together than by ourselves. A harmonised regulatory framework would make it easier for Fintech providers to operate across the region,” she said, adding that this can lead to a reduction in administrative costs and complexities.
Frater further noted the potential of the local payment system legislation to address operational challenges locally while urging faster action to establish the island as a Fintech hub.
Passed in 2021, the Barbados National Payment System Act allows for more effective oversight and regulation of the payments system and its operators through the provision for licencing payment system participants and the establishment of a clear set of rules.
“Tourism is important, but our money won’t only come from sun and sand. Technology and Fintech can catapult us to global relevance, but we need to act fast and make it easy to set up businesses here,” Frater said.
Shifting focus to the broader Caribbean, Founder and Managing Director of Global Triangle Advisors, Mariame McIntosh Robinson, a Jamaican Fintech expert, stressed the region’s unique positioning as both a testing ground for innovation and an area with significant financial service needs.
“We’re small enough to serve as a sandbox for solutions, but large enough where the need is great,” she said, addressing the question of how the region can lead in fintech while tackling local challenges.
McIntosh Robinson proposed two key steps for advancing financial technology in the region: “One is that regulators and Fintech need to come closer together to understand the business model, establish guardrails, and enable scaling.
“This is a tried-and-true problem that regulators in the Caribbean can address.”
She also called for the creation of a central repository for customer verification to make onboarding easier while maintaining security.
“Whether it’s blockchain, digital assets, or micro-lending, we need to keep bad actors out,” she said, noting that a secure central repository would allow customers to move seamlessly between providers based on existing information.
McIntosh Robinson suggested starting at the national level and eventually scaling the initiative regionally to enhance financial inclusion and operational efficiency.
“To [keep bad actors out], we need to be able to verify everybody who’s coming in. So, make that easier by doing a central repository. Start with each country and then do it across the region. I think that will be powerful,” she said.
FIX25, organised by Fintech Islands, is the largest international Fintech conference in the Caribbean, convening hundreds of innovators from across the region and around the globe with a common goal of building a more inclusive and efficient financial system.
(SM)
The post Caribbean urged to unify fintech regulations for global competitiveness appeared first on Barbados Today.
