Banks have been thriving in The Bahamas for more than 100 years on loans and mortgages, but the country is still missing out on a golden opportunity to cash in on the e-commerce sector, according to the manager of a local consulting group.
Damien Forsythe, manager of e-commerce at MWF Group Bahamas, told Guardian Business that banks providing merchant services would not only grow local businesses, but also help the overall economy by embracing this sector.
"I don't know if they are aware of the potential of those types of services.  They have really held back local businesses that want to sell online domestically and internationally.  I think the banks are not thinking about it and have not been forced to think about it," he shared.
The lack of education at both the high school and college level are just some of factors Forsythe thinks hinder the country's e-commerce industry from reaching its full potential.
"I think that in high school, there is pretty much no training or awareness of e-commerce, marketing, web design anything that relates to technology in general," Forsythe said.
He noted that the average person graduates from high school with no general knowledge of this emerging industry, which forces them to either enter the workforce with no skills or to go abroad to further their studies.
"Locally, there really is no way to hone their craft.  People take it upon themselves to learn or they go to trade school.  It's hard to build a professional industry," he added.
Forsythe pointed out that banks, the government and policymakers need to be educated on the importance of the industry, which he finds to be a challenge as well.
He further stressed that now is the time for The Bahamas to tap into e-commerce because it's a new industry that is constantly changing.
Another challenge Forsythe thinks is stopping this industry from blossoming is telecommunications services that are offered in The Bahamas.
"If these services were to improve, then there won't be such a barrier," he said.
Forsythe continued: "The Internet services that are mostly provided by Cable Bahamas (are) pretty good.  Then we look at telecommunications that's being provided by BTC, which are quite average.  I know that pricing is about to change.  As it stands, the prices are too high for the standard of service that we are currently receiving.  The telecommunications sector needs to improve."

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