Eastern Caribbean CBDC Rolls Out to Two More Nations

The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) expanded its CBDC (DCash) to two more nations of the commonwealth: Dominica and Montserrat. Now, the digital version of the EC dollar has been rolled out in seven out of all eight-member from ECCU countries. The Eastern Caribbean dollar (EC$) is the currency used by the members of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), and a central bank’s pilot project rolled out the DCash as a digital version of the currency that can be sent and received through a free app for users based in any eastern Caribbean country that has launched the CBDC. During the pilot period, the transactions are processed with no transfer fees. The ECCB Governor Timothy N.J. Antoine expressed that “the payment system should work for all, except for illicit actors,” and DCash “must work for small states and small businesses”. Antoine justified the existence of an Eastern Caribbean CBDC as an advance in the digitalization of the economy while noting that the current payment methods are “too slow and too expensive”. Users do not need a bank account to access or use the digital currency as the bank claims its top goals are “payments system efficiency, financial inclusion of the unbanked and underbanked populations, and increased resilience and competitiveness in the ECCU.” All of these goals are aimed at boosting economic growth, but ultimately at propelling our agenda of s...