The Central Bank of Barbados (CBB) has selected Montran, a New York-based financial services provider, to design, supply, install, and support the country’s new instant payments system (IPS), dubbed BimPay.
Set to launch in March 2026, BimPay will enable payments to be sent and received within 10 seconds, with funds immediately available for recipients. The system will incorporate fraud detection capabilities and support QR code payments.
Backed by the World Bank, this 24/7/365 real-time payment network aims to create a secure, interoperable ecosystem connecting six commercial banks, three credit unions, the Barbados Stock Exchange, and the Treasury Department of the Government of Barbados.
According to the CBB, additional non-bank financial entities, such as money transmission service providers, fintech companies, mobile money operators, and other payment service providers licensed by the bank, will also gain access to the system “at a later stage”.
As a key part of the Barbados Payments System Modernisation Project, BimPay will facilitate “instant, low-cost digital payments, helping small businesses, reducing cash dependency, and expanding access to financial services for all Barbadians”, Montran says in a LinkedIn post.
The CBB has also unveiled plans to launch a “comprehensive public education campaign to promote awareness and adoption of instant payments”.
This development follows several other instant settlement initiatives announced globally this year, including the Bank of Uganda’s partnership with Swedish vendor CMA Small Systems to modernise its national real-time gross settlement system in April, and Somalia’s collaboration with BPC to launch its first nationwide instant payment system in March.
Source: https://www.fintechfutures.com/
