By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Central Bank’s governor yesterday confirmed the regulator is “monitoring matters” at a Bahamian digital payments provider subject to client complaints about delays in having their money refunded.

John Rolle, in a brief messaged reply to Tribune Business inquiries on whether the Central Bank is watching the situation at Island Pay, declined to provide details other than to say: “The Central Bank is monitoring matters but cannot comment publicly on issues involving supervised financial institutions.”

Andrew Allen, who late last year became Island Pays chairman, declined to comment further yesterday in a messaged response to this newspaper following attempts to reach him. However, well-placed sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Tribune Business that the payments provider appears to have “paused” its business and placed it on hold until it develops its own technology platform.

Mr Allen on Wednesday blamed “an extremely disruptive and unhealthy relationship” with a third-party provider, who he declined to name, for Island Pay’s present woes while conceding that it was enduing “a bad time”.

This newspaper understands the payment provider may be locked in disputes with both the entity that built the platform and licensed it to Island Pay, and a separate company that hosts its technology platform, over the payment of fees. It is thought the latter may have suspended the Bahamian provider’s access to the platform, thus forcing it to announce a “five-month” migration earlier this week.

Island Pay, in a newspaper advertisement issued yesterday, asked hundreds of clients to visit its Sandyport offices and bring their Know Your Customer (KYC) verification documents and bank account details so that it can transfer the monies due and owing to them. It confirmed that they would be unable to access their electronic wallets and funds stored on the legacy platform.

However, several customers told Tribune Business that since complying with this request, and providing Island Pay with their KYC identification and bank account details, they have heard nothing for several weeks and their funds have yet to be returned.

Island Pay’s notice, which said the refunds were part of a “five-month platform migration”, raised more questions than answers. Andrew Allen and his brother William Jnr, who last December told Tribune Business they had become Island Pay’s chairman and managing director, vehemently denied that the notice was a ‘stalling tactic’ or attempt to play for time over client payouts.

They pledged that they were seeking to resolve all outstanding customer refunds this week, and were due to meet with remaining Island Pay staff yesterday.  Asserting that all clients remaining to be paid have been identified, and “quite a few” already have been refunded, Andrew Allen said ownership and management are seeking to make Island Pay “ship shape moving forward”.

“A company wants to get ahead of news in the marketplace,” he said. “This has come at a bad time.... This is not a new thing. We’ve resolved a lot of it already. We rely on external providers, technology vendors, and we are going to deal with that through our own platform.

“We cannot rely on third party providers. We’ve been trying this for some time. We’ve had an extremely disruptive and unhealthy relationship with our partners.” One Island Pay customer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they only found out they could not access their electronic wallet - and the funds it contained - by chance when they went to check it.

They added that, after finally tracking down a representative of the digital payments provider and learning what was happening, they provided all the KYC and bank account details but have yet to be paid.

But, after visiting Island Pay’s Sandyport offices and providing the KYC and bank account details, they added it has “been more than two weeks” and they have still to be refunded the contents of their electronic wallet. “They’re not telling people; they’re not giving clients notice,” the source said. “There’s no communication with individuals.

“I’m getting the distinct impression that unless clients actually use the account and become aware there is a problem, and can’t access their funds, only then will they contact you.” Other contacts questioned why Island Pay was only starting a “five-month migration” to a new platform now, as such moves are usually planned and executed well in advance to ensure a smooth and seamless transition.

They also challenged why Island Pay in effect is requiring clients to submit the same KYC details they used to open their electronic wallet account again to receive their funds.

Footnote

Provider

Headline

Provider in dispute with

its technology providers