The Central Bank of Barbados, in remarks by Governor Kevin Greenidge, explained the June 12, 2026 launch of BiMPay, Barbados' national instant payment system, which replaced the previous ACH and RTP rails. BiMPay allows account-to-account transfers in seconds across nine participating institutions, including six banks and three credit unions. The Bank described it as both a payments infrastructure upgrade and a mechanism to support competition, with scheme rules imposing binding, seconds-based time limits for receiving instructions, verifying transactions and crediting or debiting customer accounts, and with performance monitored by the central bank. The remarks said the previous batch-based system left payments delayed for days and helped sustain reliance on cash and cheques. The Bank argued that a shared national instant payments rail could not realistically be left to market forces because network economics, Barbados' small market and the need for final settlement in central bank money meant no single institution had sufficient incentive to build it alone. It linked the project to its statutory responsibilities under the National Payment System Act and the Central Bank of Barbados Act, and to lessons from 2015 deposit rate deregulation, which it said showed that removing restrictions alone did not create effective competition where customers faced obstacles to switching. Before go-live, the Bank certified all institutions, issued directives on readiness and required remediation where functionality was incomplete, with some follow-up work still continuing under supervision. Next, every participant must file its BiMPay fee schedule with the Central Bank by 31 July 2026. No institution may charge for the new system until the Bank has issued a non-objection and customers have been notified of the fees, and the Bank said it will assess charges against the cost of providing the service while also pursuing comparable published fee schedules, account portability and the removal of barriers to switching banking relationships.
Central Bank of Barbados2026-07-18
Central Bank of Barbados outlines BiMPay rollout and sets 31 July 2026 deadline for participant fee schedules
The Central Bank of Barbados used remarks by Governor Kevin Greenidge to explain the June 12, 2026 launch of BiMPay, which replaced the old ACH and RTP rails with a national instant payments system linking nine institutions. The Bank said the system was needed because market forces alone would not deliver a shared rail and because faster payments can support competition by making switching easier. Participants must submit BiMPay fee schedules by 31 July 2026, and no charges may be imposed until the Bank has issued a non-objection and customers have been notified.