The volume of the Sand Dollar digital currency in circulation increased to $1.46 million as of November, representing an approximately 40 percent increase over the first 11 months of the year, according to the Central Bank.
Through September, 117,610 digital wallets were reported to be in use, an increase of 25 percent for the year.
The Central Bank indicated that further developments and associated beta testing for its original SandDollar mobile wallet are ongoing, noting that the improvements will incorporate new features to enhance user experience. Wallet holders will be able to benefit from several self-service tools to assist with onboarding and wallet recovery.
Regarding mobile payments, the regulator noted that while the unwinding of the government’s social assistance disbursements continued to reduce the comparative year-on-year use of digital payment tokens, indications are that SandDollar usage in the mobile payments landscape expanded.
“In September, the total combined value of person-to-business (P2B) and business-to-business (B2B) transactions measured $4.3 million, with the majority settled in SandDollars,” the Central Bank reported.
“Although still modest, the volume of digital currency in circulation increased to $1.46 million as of November 2023, representing an approximate 40 percent growth over the first 11 months of the year. Some of this uptick was fuelled by the use of the ACH to facilitate top-ups, as proprietary wallets began to complete their two-way integration with SandDollar-enabled linkages with deposit accounts.”
During the period 1st January 2023 to 30th November 2023, a total of $119,054.00 was disbursed in SandDollars through incentives and promotional distributions, including the Bahamas Red Cross Society Ball and Fair, Central Bank’s Financial Literacy Fair, Guardian Radio’s ‘On the Clock’ with Erin Greene, ongoing grocery top-up- and-rebate programs, The Nassau Conference, the D3 Bahamas Conference, Bahamas National Trust’s Wine and Art Festival, and other top-up-and-rebate events, including those hosted as part of Family Island engagements.
