Mastercard Study Urges Wider Digital Payment Access For Jamaican Small Businesses

Jamaica’s drive toward wider digital participation in financial services is prompting renewed concern that small operators and underserved communities could still be excluded.

The issue has been highlighted by a new Mastercard study examining digitalisation and financial inclusion in Jamaica. The report found that the country already has a solid platform for digital payments, but merchants continue to face major obstacles in accepting electronic transactions.

Dalton Falls, Mastercard’s country manager, said the findings show that only eight per cent of small merchants in Jamaica currently use point-of-sale systems.

He said improving access will require three main areas of work. The first is bringing cheaper payment acceptance options to the market, including tap-on-phone technology. The second is making it easier for merchants to sign up digitally, using systems that already exist to support a simpler onboarding process for small business owners.

Mr. Falls said the sector is tightly regulated, which means strong know-your-customer checks remain necessary. However, he noted that available technology can now collect KYC information digitally while also helping institutions manage and monitor fraud risk.

He added that contactless payment technology also has an important role in expanding financial inclusion.

The study was carried out in February of this year.