The Central Bank of Barbados issued a public clarification after social media reports that some customers were charged to dispute incomplete transfers and believed the fee came from the central bank. It said the bank does not charge individuals or businesses to send or receive payments, and does not charge any fee to raise or resolve a dispute. BiMPay is the national instant payment infrastructure, not a customer-facing service for which the Central Bank bills users, so any fee demanded from a customer is charged by that customer’s financial institution. The bank added that financial institutions are not permitted during the current period to charge individuals for transfers they initiate or for disputes arising from those transfers, with the dispute-fee relief remaining in place until mid-September 2026. Any customer charged such a fee is to be refunded by the institution concerned. It also said delayed or incomplete transfers do not mean funds are lost, because funds in the payment system are protected and unsuccessful transfers are recovered and returned, with the customer made whole by their institution. The Central Bank is reminding institutions to communicate accurately with customers and not attribute their own fees or processing delays to the central bank.
Central Bank of Barbados2026-07-03
Central Bank of Barbados clarifies it charges no BiMPay fees and says customers wrongly charged must be refunded
The Central Bank of Barbados said it does not charge any BiMPay transfer or dispute fees and that any such charges come from customers’ financial institutions, not the central bank. Institutions are currently not permitted to charge individuals for these transfers or related disputes, and customers charged in error must be refunded. The bank also said incomplete transfers are recoverable and customers will be made whole by their institution.