CONTACT Magazine (Vol.18 No.2 – September 2018)

Fintech and Blockchain
There are problems with blockchain and
crypto-currencies. The infrastructure
required to establish crypto-currencies
in the Caribbean is mostly absent. Some
of the key factors here are:
• Lack of financial and technology
savvy in much of the market. Not
enough people in the Caribbean
know enough about the technology,
or have access to sufficient
speculatory cash balances, to take
their first steps into crypto-currency
trading.
• The irrevocable nature of
transactions. When a transaction
is done on a ledger, it is irrevocable
unless all parties agree otherwise.
There is no ombudsman or
regulator to compel a participant to
change. And if an encryption key is
lost, balances can be permanently
unavailable.
• Distribution architecture. There
has to be heavy investment in a
network of vendors, ATMs and
other infrastructure to enable
democratised access to the system.
• Convertibility and liquidity. A key
constraint in the Caribbean. This
will require the collaboration of
the central and commercial banks,
which are well behind institutionally.
sdecoret / shutterstock.com
Much better understood e-money
and e-payment solutions are still not
universally offered in the Caribbean 10
to 15 years after being available around
the world. This has affected domestic
businesses, and has stymied private
sector investment in digital technology.
Still, there is a great opportunity
for improvement in areas where there
has been little change in operational
modality. Insurance, healthcare, and
government services are among sectors
ripe for disruption with the application
of (now common) technologies such as
cloud, digital payments, mobile, and
video conferencing. These will need to
become mainstream over the next five
years if Trinidad and Tobago is not to
be disenfranchised in the wider global
digital economy.
www.chamber.org.tt/contact-magazine 35
Trinidad and Tobago Chamber
of Industry and Commerce