the payments system in trinidad and tobago - Central Bank of ...

24THE PAYMENTS SYSTEMIN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGOV. USAGE OF PAYMENT INSTRUMENTSCheques have continued to be an important means of payment;however its usage has slowed since 2000. By contrast, there hasbeen a steady increase in the use of electronic payments. Thevolume of electronic transactions grew at an average annual rate of19% between 2000 and 2008 while the volume of cheques usagegrew at an average annual rate of only 2.3% 6 (See Chart I).CHART IVolume Growth of Payment InstrumentMillions Millions403530252015105-2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008ChequesElectronicsSource: Central Bank of Trinidad and TobagoIn 2000, 61% of non-cash payments were made by cheques and39% were paid by electronic means. By 2008, the situation wasreversed with 35% of non-cash payments being made by chequesand 65% by electronic methods. (See Chart II).6 Electronic payment instruments consist of debit and credit point of sale transactions, RTGS and ACHtransactions. The point of sale transactions have been in existence since 1994 while the RTGS andACH transactions were introduced in October 2004 and October 2005 respectively.