Barbados: Digitaal geld ‘geen probleem’

Contante betalingen, betalingen met cards of via de point-of-sale zijn in recente tijden de norm geweest. Maar nieuw onderzoek heeft geconcludeerd dat het gebruik van digitale valuta’s zoals Bitcoin niet vergezocht meer is.

Het gebruik van digitale valuta als een vorm van betaling in Barbados werd recent onderzocht. Econoom Anthony Wood en bank examinator Runako Brathwaite hebben een verkennend onderzoek gedaan naar het gebruik van digitale valuta als een vorm van betaling op #Barbados. (Exploring The Use Of Digital Currencies As A Form Of Payment In Barbados).

Uit de bevindingen is gebleken dat de meeste respondenten kennis maakten met het concept van digitale valuta in 2014. Slechts enkele personen onderkennen andere digitale valuta dan #Bitcoin.”

“Over het algemeen was er beperkte kennis onder Barbadians over digitale valuta’s en hoewel de meesten er wel van gehoord hadden, beschikten weinigen over meer kennis over het onderwerp dan op het niveau van een beginner. Ondanks deze bevinding verklaarden velen zich bereid om digitale valuta te gebruiken als aan bepaalde voorwaarden zal worden voldaan. ”

De beide onderzoekers verzamelden gegevens over het onderwerp met behulp van een gestructureerde vragenlijst die 50 deelnemers tussen juli en september vorig jaar werd toegezonden.

Met de vragenlijst werd deelnemers vragen gesteld over awareness en hun perceptie van digitale valuta, alsmede de frequentie waarmee zij gebruik maakten van diensten zoals money transfer, overschrijvingen en online winkelen, om de aanzienlijke voordelen zichtbaar te maken die kunnen voortvloeien uit de invoering van digitale valuta.

De heren Wood en Brathwaite merkten op dat er in de loop van de tijd verandering gekomen is in wat  geaccepteerd is geworden als betaalmiddel. Dit geldt ook voor de verschillende manieren waarop betalingen worden gedaan.”

“Munten gemaakt van edele metalen waren ooit een van de eerste methoden waarmee betaald werd in een aantal economieën. Dit is uiteindelijk uitgegroeid (geëvolueerd) tot het gebruik van ontvangstbewijzen in panden waar ook  goudsmeden gehuisvest waren. De ontvangstbewijzen ontwikkelden zich tot bankbiljetten waarvan de waarde niet afhangt van goud, maar van de economische en financiële positie van het land “, aldus Wood en Brathwaite.

“De volgende stap in de evolutie van betaalmethoden is digitale valuta, welke volgens velen de potentie heeft  om de bestaande wereldwijde financiële infrastructuur te verstoren (disrupt) en te transformeren”.

– Zie meer op: http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/88608/digital-money#sthash.yljf8fZF.dpuf

–  Zie meer over digitale valuta:  Wall Street Journal: Sweden’s Central Bank Considers Digital Currency . Deputy governor says nation’s sharp decline in cash usage may make it among first to adopt new system

Noot: De ICT Associatie Suriname plaatst artikelen over ICT en ICT gerelateerde onderwerpen in de Caribbean omdat zij de Caribbean en/of de CARICOM als haar thuismarkt beschouwt.

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Digital money ‘no problem’

Cash payments, and in more recent times card transactions at point-of-sale, have been the norm, but new research has concluded that using digital currencies like bitcoin is not far-fetched.
The topic Exploring The Use Of Digital Currencies As A Form Of Payment In Barbados was explored by economist Anthony Wood and bank examiner Runako Brathwaite.
“The findings revealed that most respondents became aware of the concept of digital currency in 2014, with only a few persons recognising digital currencies other than bitcoin,” they said.

“Generally there was limited knowledge among Barbadians about digital currencies and although most had heard of it, few had more than a beginner’s level of knowledge on the subject. Despite this finding, many expressed a willingness to use it if certain conditions could be met.”
They collected data on the topic using a structured questionnaire that was sent to 50 participants between July and September last year.
The questionnaire covered participants’ awareness and perception of digital currency, as well as the frequency with which they used services including money transfer/remittance and online shopping that would derive significant benefits from its introduction.
Wood and Brathwaite noted that “what has been accepted as payment has changed over time, and so have the ways in which payments are made”.
“Coins made of precious metals were one of the first methods used for making payments in a number of economies. This eventually evolved to the use of receipts for gold housed with goldsmiths, which then developed into banknotes whose value depends not on gold but on the economic and financial position of the country,” they said.
“Next in the evolution of payment methods is digital currency, which is considered by many to have the potential to disrupt and transform the existing global financial infrastructure”.
– See more at: http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/88608/digital-money#sthash.yljf8fZF.dpuf

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Sweden: Central Bank Considers Digital Currency

Deputy governor says nation’s sharp decline in cash usage may make it among first to adopt new system.

STOCKHOLM—Sweden’s central bank on Wednesday opened a discussion about whether to introduce a digital currency to supplement cash as people here increasingly cut their use of coins and notes.

In a speech, Swedish Riksbank Deputy Governor Cecilia Skingsley said that as the use of cash is declining faster in Sweden than in most other countries, the Nordic state needs to be at the forefront of developing new payment systems.

The speech marks the start of what is likely to be a yearslong investigation into the feasibility of issuing digital money to private individuals, in the way central banks already do to commercial banks.

“The less those of us living in Sweden use bank notes and coins, the clearer it becomes that the Riksbank needs to investigate whether we should issue electronic money as a complement to the money we have today,” Ms. Skingsley said.

She said the central bank would now begin assessing the technological, legal and policy implications of such electronic money.

“This is something entirely new for a central bank and there is no precedent to follow,” Ms. Skingsley said.

Private digital currencies such as Bitcoin aren’t backed by central banks.

Among the main questions to be addressed would be financial stability, Ms. Skingsley said.

For example, she said the Riksbank was aware of the risk that depositors in commercial banks might move their savings into central bank electronic money in times of financial stress, something that could strain commercial banks’ ability to ride out a crisis.

It also needs to be decided whether the money should be booked in accounts or some form of digitally transferable unit that doesn’t need an underlying account structure, roughly like cash, she said.

Over the last five years, cash withdrawals in Sweden have fallen by about one-third both in terms of number and value, according to a central bank report at the end of October.

This rapid change may mean the Riksbank will have to make a decision on the introduction of electronic money before any of its peers, Ms. Skingsley said.

Still, other central banks are already actively looking at the issue and might get there first.

The Bank of England published a working paper on the macroeconomics of central-bank-issued digital currencies in July as part of efforts to plot a way forward.

Ms. Skingsley compared the emergence of an electronic currency based on modern technology to the emergence of bank notes based on the printing press.

“The conditions are ripe for launching more electronic payment forms,” she said.

Write to Charles Duxbury at charles.duxbury@wsj.com

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Hashtags: #electroniccurrency #currency #Sweden