Jamaica’s Payment System Breaks Records Across Every Measure in 2024: 185 Million Digital Transactions, $34.8 Trillion Settled

• Electronic transactions hit 185.73 million in 2024, worth $5.59 trillion JMD
• RTGS settled $34.79 trillion JMD, Jamaica’s highest ever annual total
• POS transactions surpassed $1.14 trillion JMD, a first in Jamaica’s history
• Debit card circulation reached 3,882,599 by year-end 2024
• ATM withdrawals totalled $829.09 billion JMD across 48.94 million transactions
• Annual cheque volumes fell to 5.49 million against 185 million digital payments

The Bank of Jamaica’s full-year 2024 payment data confirms what twelve months of monthly reports had been signalling: Jamaica has just completed its most digitally active financial year on record, with 185 million electronic transactions, a first-ever trillion-dollar POS milestone, and the island’s largest RTGS settlement total in documented history.

The Bank of Jamaica’s Payment System Data Bulletin for December 2024 closes the book on a year that has reshaped the scale and character of Jamaica’s financial system. The data, covering the full twelve months from January to December, documents record-breaking performance across wholesale settlement, retail payments, card issuance, and payment infrastructure — a consistent story of an economy transacting with greater volume, greater efficiency, and greater reliance on digital channels than at any point in its history.

For Jamaica’s businesses, consumers, real estate professionals, and investors, 2024 was the year the country’s payment system moved from infrastructure in transition to infrastructure that has arrived. The question that now faces policymakers, banks, and the Bank of Jamaica is no longer whether Jamaica’s payment system can scale — the 2024 data answers that definitively — but whether it can deepen: reaching more people, more geographies, and more economic activities that have historically operated outside the formal financial system.

The RTGS: $34.8 Trillion in One Year

The JAMCLEAR-RTGS system processed 4,304,952 transactions in 2024, settling $34.79 trillion JMD and $4.90 billion USD. Merchant banks accounted for $26.99 trillion JMD (77.59%) of the domestic total, while building societies settled $3.91 trillion (11.23%). In the foreign-currency segment, merchant banks handled $2.68 billion USD (54.79%) and building societies $2.10 billion (42.81%) — a split that reflects the central role both institution types play in Jamaica’s financial system, with building societies particularly dominant in USD mortgage and property financing.

To place $34.79 trillion JMD in context: it is approximately fifteen times Jamaica’s estimated annual GDP. Every working day of 2024, the RTGS system settled, on average, roughly $142 billion JMD in interbank obligations — the accumulated weight of thousands of individual commercial transactions, payroll transfers, government payments, securities settlements, and mortgage disbursements that flow through the system before most Jamaicans have finished their morning routine. The RTGS is, in the truest sense, the engine room of the economy.

December 2024 alone contributed $1.93 trillion JMD and $227.28 million USD to the annual RTGS totals — the month’s elevated pace consistent with the year-end business activity, bonus payments, and corporate settlement cycles that traditionally push December toward the top of any monthly comparison.

A Trillion-Dollar POS Year

Jamaica’s point-of-sale network processed 84.75 million JMD transactions in 2024, worth $1.14 trillion. USD POS activity added 3.14 million transactions worth $553.21 million. The $1.14 trillion JMD POS figure is historic: it is the first time Jamaica’s card merchant network has settled more than a trillion dollars in a single year, reflecting both the dramatic expansion of terminal infrastructure and the sustained growth in consumer preference for card payments over cash.

The December 2024 bulletin also records what appears to be a significant expansion of POS terminal infrastructure, with the installed base reaching 49,532 units by year-end — a figure substantially higher than the 31,455 units recorded for November. While the precise reasons for this increase require clarification from the Bank of Jamaica, it is possible that a reclassification of terminal types, the inclusion of a previously unreported category of payment devices, or a genuine surge in deployment contributed to the year-end figure. Irrespective of the counting methodology, the direction is clear: Jamaica’s merchant payment infrastructure is broad, deep, and still growing.

Digital Payments: 185 Million and Growing

Total JMD electronic transactions for 2024 reached 185.73 million, with a combined value of $5.59 trillion. Debit cards led with 134.17 million transactions worth $1.44 trillion. Credit cards contributed 31.43 million transactions worth $1.30 trillion. Other electronic transactions — bank transfers, mobile payments, and internet banking — contributed 20.13 million transactions but generated $2.85 trillion in value, the highest average per transaction at approximately $141,000, confirming their role in Jamaica’s larger-value payment activity including wages, commercial payments, and real estate-related transfers.

In USD, electronic transactions totalled 42.58 million for the year, worth $3.57 billion. Debit cards accounted for 35.27 million USD transactions ($2.06 billion) and credit cards for 6.88 million ($1.01 billion). The scale of USD electronic activity reflects Jamaica’s deeply international economy, in which tourism receipts, diaspora spending, business imports, and real estate transactions involving foreign-currency flows are a structural feature rather than an exception.

ATMs: Cash Holds Its Ground

ATM withdrawals in JMD reached 48.94 million for the full year, valued at $829.09 billion. USD ATM activity totalled 1,171,340 withdrawals worth $341.03 million. These figures confirm that despite the dramatic growth in digital and card-based payments, cash remains an essential part of Jamaica’s economic life. The ATM network is not shrinking — it is being used heavily, consistently, and at higher values than in prior years. For the millions of Jamaicans who rely on cash for everyday transactions, the ABM network remains their primary point of contact with the formal banking system.

Government Securities: A Deep and Active Market

The JAMCLEAR-CSD processed 124,223 transactions in 2024, settling $14.58 trillion JMD and $3.14 billion USD in securities transaction values. Entitlements proceeds — coupon and principal payments distributed to bondholders — accounted for $5.92 trillion JMD (40.59% of the total), reflecting the substantial size of Jamaica’s domestic debt and the regular obligations of the government to service it. Repos contributed $620.61 million (19.73%) of USD values, underpinning the active short-term liquidity market that Jamaica’s financial institutions rely on for daily balance-sheet management.

Government of Jamaica bonds outstanding at year-end 2024 stood at $775.41 billion JMD, distributed across banks ($323.98bn), primary dealers ($251.27bn), and secondary dealers ($200.16bn). BOJ open market instruments in JMD totalled $244.94 billion, with USD instruments at $268.25 million. These holdings represent the domestic savings of Jamaican financial institutions channelled into sovereign debt — and their orderly management through the CSD is a prerequisite for the financial system’s stability.

Cheques: Still Declining, Still Present

Jamaica processed 5.49 million cheques in 2024 with a combined value of $951.59 billion JMD. That compares to 5.55 million in 2023 and 6.58 million in 2022 — a steady annual reduction that, set against 185.73 million digital transactions, produces a ratio of approximately 34 electronic payments for every cheque written. The high average value of cheques — approximately $173,000 JMD per cheque — confirms that the instrument has largely retreated to its final redoubts: large commercial payments, certain legal transactions, government disbursements, and contexts where the payer is not yet able or willing to use electronic channels.

For Jamaica’s property sector, the cheque data is a useful reference point. Large real estate transactions — where sums in the tens of millions of JMD are routinely involved — remain among the transaction types most likely to still involve cheques. The RTGS system, which settles any value with finality on the same day, provides a superior alternative for these large amounts, and its growing adoption in property conveyancing is both a response to and a driver of the declining cheque numbers.

Card Issuance: Closing in on 3.9 Million

JMD debit cards in circulation reached 3,882,599 at year-end 2024, just 117,401 short of the four-million mark that has been the visible horizon throughout the year. Credit cards reached 430,900, dual-currency cards 41,641, and USD credit cards 25,182. The debit card total grew by more than 200,000 over the course of 2024 — a significant annual addition that reflects sustained bank investment in customer acquisition and product issuance.

For Jamaica’s economy, the card base is more than a financial statistic. It represents the reach of the formal financial system and, by extension, the proportion of economic activity that flows through trackable, auditable channels. A debit cardholder is a person with a bank account, a transaction history, and a foothold in the formal economy from which other financial relationships can grow. At 3.88 million debit cards against an adult population of approximately 1.8 million, Jamaica has achieved meaningful financial reach — but per-capita card penetration does not fully capture access for the most economically marginalised communities, where multi-card ownership by higher-income individuals can inflate the headline count.

What 2024 Means and What Comes Next

The 2024 full-year payment data is, above all, a confirmation of trajectory. Jamaica’s payment system is growing in scale, depth, and sophistication. Electronic payments are increasingly the default rather than the alternative. The infrastructure — terminals, cards, settlement systems, securities depository — is expanding consistently. Institutions are performing reliably.

The challenge for 2025 and beyond is translating that scale into deeper impact: reaching the communities and economic activities not yet fully served by formal financial infrastructure, reducing the friction cost of transactions in Jamaica’s informal sector, and ensuring that the benefits of an efficient payment system flow to all segments of the population rather than concentrating among those already well-served by banks and digital platforms. The 2024 data sets a high baseline. The question for Jamaica’s policymakers, banks, and financial innovators is what they build on top of it.

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