Card switch moves

Minister of Small Business and Entrepreneurship Dwight Sutherland is calling on the credit union movement to create a locally issued pre-paid debit card system to replace the Caribbean Integrated Financial Services Inc. (CariFS) network scheduled to end in September 2020.

CariFS links all the ATMs in Barbados to allow its member financial institutions to dispense cash on a 24-hour basis to their customers, using the entire network of over 100 ATMs.

This call comes as banks forge ahead with plans to use VISA as the switching agent which effectively, would deem the local CariFS switch redundant.

Speaking at the dinner and awards ceremony of the Lifetime Co-operative Credit Union Anniversary and Awards Ceremony at the Accra Beach Hotel & Spa, Rockley, Christ Church last Saturday, Sutherland said the credit unions account for 20 per cent of CariFS activity which is reported to be a total 1.9 million transactions per year.

“The Government of Barbados will work with the credit unions to find an alternative platform to CariFS and will focus on how the credit unions can find an ICT solution for customer payments in light of this decision by the Barbados Bankers’ Association.

“I have already initiated discussions with members of the credit union movement to decide on a way forward. I have also put out a call to the biggest communications provider, Cable & Wireless and its sister company FLOW to get in on the act to work with Government and the credit unions to launch an electronic payment network very soon,” he said.

Minister Sutherland also noted that he was happy to hear that the Barbados Cooperative & Credit Union Limited and Capita Financial Services Inc will be joining efforts to launch an international debit card by June 2020 to mitigate the impact of the closure of the existing CariFS network in September next year.

“However, I want to encourage the movement to examine the use of a locally-issued prepaid debit card which could be adopted as a low-cost solution to the switching problem.

“It means therefore that local transactions will be settled in Barbados Currency and reduce the flight of foreign exchange that will occur with the usage of the international Visa or MasterCard debit card,” he said.

President of the Lifetime Anthony Branker said the credit union can boast of over 5 600 members and assets of $67 million up to August 31 when it marked its 30th anniversary.

Brancker said that Lifetime, formerly known as the Barbados Shipping and Trading Employees Cooperative Credit Union, was established to help employees of the company that was the single largest employer on the island at that time.

Founders and longstanding members of the credit union were recognised for their outstanding contributions to the financial institution. anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb