COMMENT BY MIGUEL TAYLOR ON THE RUSH TO DIGITIZE
Miguel Taylor, 43, currently resides in Grand Bahama, navigating the currents of the public service as a Communications professional, while eloquently crafting poems and essays that illuminate Bahamian life and other compelling subjects.– Editor
The Digital Mandate vs. Bahamian Liberty,
Why the Cheque Must Stay
A short essay by Miguel Taylor
There is a growing, quiet unease settling over the kitchen tables and storefronts of our archipelago, or at least, there should be. It stems from the ivory towers of the Central Bank of The Bahamas, where a relentless push toward total digitization threatens to extinguish one of the few remaining instruments of financial autonomy, the humble cheque. While we must applaud the Central Bank’s desire to modernize our monetary framework, there is a fine line between progress and erasure. In the haste to build a digital utopia, we risk dismantling a system that, for many, is not only functional but essential.
The argument is simple. Progressive jurisdictions across the globe, from Canada to the United Kingdom, understand that true modernization means adding options, not subtracting them. These nations have embraced electronic transfers and digital wallets while maintaining the cheque as a valid, legal instrument. They recognize that a payment system should work in tandem, offering a suite of choices that cater to the tech-savvy millennial and the traditional pensioner alike.
We are told that removing cheques will improve “ease of transaction.” In reality, it adds a technical layer that is perpetually subject to fault. We have all seen the headlines of system outages and “glitches” that paralyze digital commerce for hours. When the server goes down, a cheque remains a tangible promise of value. By forcing every Bahamian through a singular digital funnel, we are not removing friction; we are adding red tape and a high-tech dependency that our infrastructure is not yet robust enough to guarantee.
There is a timeless wisdom in the adage, “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.” The cheque system in The Bahamas is a functioning, understood, and reliable method of payment. To discard it is not an act of visionary leadership, but a “fools errand” that ignores the lived reality of our citizens.
In the political sphere, it is striking how silent the halls of Parliament have been on this issue. To date, the Member of Parliament for Fox Hill and Minister of Foreign Affairs,
The Digital Mandate vs. Bahamian Liberty,
Why the Cheque Must Stay
Page 2/2
Fred Mitchell, has been the primary advocate against this sweeping change. It is unfortunate that, where public voices are concerned, he stands largely alone in his skepticism.
This cause must not be viewed through the narrow lens of partisan politics. This is a matter of national convenience and civil liberty. We need more voices to join this chorus. While the Central Bank operates with a necessary degree of autonomy, that autonomy does not grant it the right to unilaterally dictate the terms of our economic interaction without legislative oversight. In this instance, Parliament must take a bold stance. We need an enactment of legislation to intervene and preserve the right of Bahamians to choose how they spend their own money.
Beyond the instrument itself, we must address the gatekeepers. If the Central Bank is truly concerned with “financial inclusion,” it should look at the prohibitive requirements for opening a chequing account. In a country where some banks demand a $500 minimum deposit just to start, we are effectively gatekeeping the economy.
An individual should be able to open a chequing account with as little as $25. Such a move would actually attract customers and bring more people into the formal banking system. Instead, our commercial banks have become little more than holding facilities. They exhibit a staggering lack of liberal lending habits and offer little to no interest to account holders. We are paying the banks to hold our money while they strip away our methods of accessing it.
The Central Bank’s proposal is a solution in search of a problem. We can have our “Sand Dollar” and our digital transfers without sacrificing the cheque. We must demand a system that prioritizes the Bahamian consumer over the perceived tidiness of a digital ledger.
Let us rally behind the idea of a multi-faceted economy. Let us demand that our representatives protect our options. Progress should mean better service, not fewer choices.