Central Bank Governor John Rolle confirmed earlier this week that more work will be done to ensure local banks are able to settle digital transactions faster, with better cost efficiency and in greater numbers, before it moves to completely eliminate checks.
Guardian Business reported in December 2021 that the Central Bank announced the elimination of Bahamian dollar checks by December 2024, with a universal cutoff date to eliminate all check cashing activities at the end of 2022, at which time only check deposits would be allowed until the complete elimination.
Responding directly to a Guardian Business question at the Central Bank's first quarterly press briefing earlier this week, Rolle admitted that the move is a sensitive issue for many segments of the business community, which last year pushed back against the announcement.
"We are working to 2024 in terms of meaningful progress. I did notice some misperception in some quarters and some individuals thinking that it was happening at the end of last year, 2022. That's not the case, but I can say this, we are getting important representation from stakeholder groups around the process, and we are in talks with the government around how that process would look. Not all the feedback is comforting or receptive of the change and we understand that. That is a clear function of the necessary communication and public outreach that is ahead of us," he said.
"Speaking with the banking sector, the very next step will be that they put together a steering committee. It will join the government and the insurers, credit unions and other important stakeholders and we will focus on the kinds of key performance indicators that we should be targeting for improvement, as we move towards reduced use of checks and even reduced use of cash.
"Those indicators would include improving the focus on the speed at which transactions are being settled in the electronic funds transfer space, looking at the cost of those transactions relative to the alternatives, and also benchmarking progress relative to the speed at which the public is migrating towards digital payments. Wrapped up in that is the issue of not just how the public is migrating, but whether there is a deliberate financial inclusion outcome, so that we can address the access issues. So those are the three very important performance indicators that we will be tracking and targeting over the coming months and years to make certain that there is meaningful progress toward the end goal."
Last July, the only two major check printers in the country - Bahamas Cheque Services and Executive Cheque Printers - said The Central Bank of The Bahamas (CBOB) will end their business with the planned elimination of checks.
They said on average there remains more than 4,000 companies that regularly utilize checks and on average well over 100,000 checks are printed each month for attorney's offices, banks and real estate firms, among other companies.
Rolle said the next year will be spent engaging more stakeholders to ensure all are prepared for the switch.
"A public education campaign will begin to pick up. There is already internal agreement on the firm that is going to assist us in that respect and there is already considerable work being done in terms of scrutinizing the existing legal framework for payments, to identify if necessary where any changes are needed. But it is appreciated that it is still a very sensitive issue and it's not going to be as simple as just the flick of a switch," he said.
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