THE FIGHT FOR
MOBILE PAYMENTS AyesHa Gibson-gill
Right now there are multiple players in the Caribbean mobile payments ecosystem. Across the region some of the players in the mobile payment market include Island Pay and Kanoo in The Bahamas, Mobile Edge Solutions in Jamaica, mMoney in Barbados, CaribePay in St. Kitts & Nevis and WiPay, which is in Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, St. Lucia and Jamaica. The flight of international commercial banks from the region leaves a supply gap in the ecosystem. Narrower and more expensive access to international transactions is extremely prohibitive for Caribbean businesses looking to scale up. Even for better capitalised and more established companies the hit to the bottom line can be serious. Small or medium sized enterprises (SME’s) can face depleted income. For some, non-cash payments are not an option, which can result in loss of sales due to the inability to process credit and debit payments, while those that exercise that option face high transaction fees. So where do these E-payment providers focus their growth potential in the varied market? In one simple answer‌foreign exchange fees!
42
