WiPay Jamaica is on a mission to transform Jamaica’s Digital Landscape through numerous online payment options and more recently, with their Regional Digital Payments Transformation Fund.
This initiative is the first part of their WiCare Digital Grant Initiative which was launched on October 4, 2021 in partnership with Member of Parliament, Floyd Green at INTOWN Supermarket, in Black River (St. Elizabeth).
WiPay Jamaica Launches 1st Digital Payments Fund
This Grant will be executed in a number of stages based on select Industry Categories, starting with Healthcare Frontline Workers from the Black River Hospital.
First Stage
In the first stage, Healthcare Frontline Workers will receive JMD $7,500 from WiPay’s Regional Digital Payments Transformation Fund. WiPay, The Caribbean’s leading payments company, demonstrated how grants and payments could be distributed effectively without physically handing out cash and by using digital technology.
According to WiPay’s Country Manager, Kibwe McGann:
“Cash has been labelled as a super spreader for the Covid-19 virus. So as the Caribbean’s leader in Financial Technology, we challenged ourselves to develop a solution that removed cash from the system, and one that was accessible to the underbanked and unbanked. Because not everyone has a bank account, WiPay developed the solution to be accessible from their mobile devices“
To remedy the “super spreader” issue, recipients of the grant will each receive a QR code, via text message, WhatsApp or email. They will then go to any of the participating redemption centres in Black River which are namely: INTOWN Supercentre, Lashings, Jakes, Frenchmen, Petcom and Cawleys Pharmacies where they can shop and pay for services. Each QR Code features a unique identifier that can only be scanned by a WiPay Smart Terminal which has been expertly installed at the participating location.
The smart terminal scans the code, verifies the recipient’s name and balance on the QR code, which is then registered as a cash payment towards a bill.
Other Jamaican partners who have contributed to the Fund are YELLO Media Group and JMMB.
Second Stage
The second stage of the initiative will focus on a needs basis which will see an additional $15,000USD (JMD$2.3 Million) being drawn down from the fund and distributed to the individuals. Also for this stage, The Digital Payments Transformation Fund will be accessed by Food for the Poor and The Bounty Foundation. Recipients will use the same QR Code Digital Payment Technology developed by WiPay to complete their transactions at the redemption centres.
Over the next two weeks, additional grant recipients will be identified by the foundations and the grants dispersed by text message and WhatsApp. This next stage will be launched in partnership with The Progressive Group, which will see the expansion of the Initiative islandwide through the onboarding of 28 additional supermarkets islandwide.
So far, over USD$860,000 has been accessed from WiPay’s Digital Transformation Fund over the last two years. The total value of the fund is USD$1Million which was activated shortly after the Pandemic began to take its toll on Caribbean Nations. This is part of WiPay’s Corporate Responsibility Initiative #WiCare.
Trinidad and Grenada are the only other two Caribbean countries to have accessed the Fund so far. Jamaica has accessed the fund several times through the following projects:
- R.A.D.A Cashless Farmers Market
- Development of v1. E.N.D.S (eCommerce National Delivery Service)
- Project 1000 (the gifting of 1000 free eCommerce websites to SMEs)
For more Information contact:
- Floyd Green – 876.297.3318 (Member of Parliament)
- Sean Brissette – 876. 318.0338 or 876.397.7142 (Parish Manager for the St. Elizabeth Health Services)
- Kibwe McGann – 876.368.6940 WiPay Jamaica
#WiPay Jamaica Launches 1st Digital Payments Fund
#WiPay Jamaica Launches 1st Digital Payments Fund
#WiPay Jamaica Launches 1st Digital Payments Fund
#WiPay Jamaica Launches 1st Digital Payments Fund
#WiPay Jamaica Launches 1st Digital Payments Fund
