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The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ), the country’s central bank, has said customer protections prevent the ability to trace digital dollar transactions despite the technology enabling the ability to do so.
In a report by the Jamaican Observer on Wednesday, the bank said that while customer’s personal information and transactions can be monitored when using its version of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) it would require further legal hurdles to do so.
“This information is not shared with the Bank of Jamaica and any other authority due to customers’ confidentiality and data protection,” the bank said in the report. “This information can only be shared under a court order.”
The bank said it would only capture general data for its economic analysis and assessments.
CBDCs tout improved access to regulated payments for the underbanked and underserved, tackling issues of liquidity while enhancing payment rails among retail merchants. The BOJ expects cost savings to come from its ownership of the technology involved in producing the CBDC, according to the report.
Last week, the central bank minted its first batch of CBDCs totaling $1.5 million as part of a pilot program directed towards deposit-taking institutions and authorized payment service providers.
Jamaica joins a growing list of countries experimenting with a digital version of their sovereign currency and is one of a few island nations doing so, including the Bahamas.
China is said to be leading the charge and is at the forefront among the list of the largest economies currently experimenting with a CBDC.
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