An electronic payment solutions provider yesterday said it had become the first entity licensed under new Central Bank of The Bahamas regulations that took effect last July.

Island Pay said its payment service provider license was issued after it complied with the Central Bank's Payment Instruments (Oversight) Regulations 21017, which came into force on July 21, 2017.

Frank Svatousek, Island Pay's chief executive, said: "The Central Bank regulates domestic payment service providers including retail banks, credit unions and money transmission businesses, but saw the need to establish a new class of provider, the payments institution.

"In a recent paper titled Digital Currency - Extending the Payments System Modernisation Initiative, the Central Bank recognised that the shrinking footprint of the retail banks - coupled with the increased shift in payments towards electronic modes - necessitated regulatory review and the creation of the payment service provider."

"Among the benefits of this new class of service provider," Mr Svatousek said, "is that our Bahamian customers will have cost effective and easy-to-use bill payment, person-to-person transfers, mobile top-up and merchant solutions.

"As a tokenised service, it is as secure as existing mobile payment services and all of our customers' data is securely held in The Bahamas. The smartphone application, available for Android and iOS, allows users to manage the service with security and control from any island in The Bahamas."