- RTGS processed ~390,000 transactions settling $1.88 trillion JMD in February 2025
- Electronic retail transactions reached 16.3 million, valued at $467 billion JMD
- POS card spending totalled $91.2 billion across 6.90 million transactions
- POS terminal network grew to 32,353, up from January’s 32,087
- GOJ bond stock climbed to $820.8 billion JMD, rising $27 billion from January
- 432,887 JMD credit cards in circulation, with debit cards at 3.77 million
Jamaica’s payment system posted solid February 2025 numbers despite the calendar’s shortest month, with digital transaction volumes holding above the monthly averages implied by 2024’s full-year totals, the POS terminal network edging higher and the government bond market continuing to expand — all signs that the digital momentum building through 2024 has carried into the new year without interruption.
The Payment System Data Bulletin for February 2025, published by the Bank of Jamaica, provides the second monthly data point of 2025 for Jamaica’s financial infrastructure. February is structurally the smallest month in the calendar — with just 28 days in 2025 — and payment volumes naturally reflect that compressed timeframe. The relevant comparison is not raw monthly volume against January but rather the daily transaction rate, which reveals whether underlying demand is growing, stable or contracting.
RTGS: $1.88 Trillion Over 28 Days
The JAMCLEAR-RTGS system settled approximately $1,881.54 billion JMD in February 2025 across roughly 389,716 transactions. On the US dollar side, the system cleared approximately $198.24 million. These figures derive from the cumulative first-quarter data reported in the February bulletin, adjusted for January’s already-published figures, and represent a typical February settlement volume for Jamaica’s interbank market.
Merchant banks continued to dominate JMD settlement flows, reflecting the high-value corporate and institutional payments that characterise this segment of the market. Building society participation in RTGS — representing mortgage disbursements and large savings institution flows — was consistent with the new-year mortgage lending activity that would be expected as buyers who committed to purchases in January move to completion in February. For the property market, RTGS building society flows are among the most direct indicators of mortgage drawdown activity, and February’s data suggests sustained lending momentum.
Electronic Transactions: Strong Daily Rate Despite Shorter Month
JMD electronic transactions in February 2025 totalled approximately 16.29 million, with a value of $467.22 billion. USD electronic transactions added approximately 4.81 million, worth $324.98 million. These figures are lower than January’s 18.0 million and $533.31 billion in absolute terms, but on a per-day basis, February’s performance is comparable — January had 31 days to generate its volumes, while February had only 28.
The credit card component of electronic transactions remains notable. JMD credit card electronic transactions contributed to a combined Q1 total of 5,515,490 across the two-month period, implying February credit card transaction volumes of approximately 2.65 million — close to January’s 2.87 million despite the shorter month. This resilience in credit card usage suggests that Jamaican credit cardholders are actively using their cards for recurring payments, subscription services and online shopping rather than treating credit cards purely as occasional large-purchase instruments.
ATM Withdrawals: Cash Demand Edges Lower
ABMs processed approximately 5.36 million JMD transactions in February 2025, generating $93.55 billion in cash withdrawals. USD ATM activity added approximately 94,130 transactions worth $25.10 million. The slight decline from January’s 5.79 million transactions and $102.94 billion is consistent with February’s shorter calendar and the typical post-January normalisation in cash demand.
The trajectory of ATM withdrawal values is one of the more revealing indicators of cash dependency in Jamaica’s economy. A monthly ATM withdrawal total of $93.55 billion in February suggests that, despite the rapid growth of digital payment channels, cash remains central to Jamaican economic life. The average ATM withdrawal of approximately $17,450 JMD — derived from dividing total value by transaction count — is consistent with a pattern of moderate, regular withdrawals by bank customers supplementing their everyday digital transactions with cash for markets, transport, informal traders and other cash-required contexts.
POS Spending and Terminal Network Growth
Point-of-sale card spending in February 2025 totalled approximately 6.90 million transactions worth $91.22 billion JMD. USD POS transactions added approximately 267,080 transactions worth $54.83 million. The monthly POS spend of $91.22 billion is below January’s $103.01 billion in absolute terms, but again, this largely reflects February’s three fewer days. On a daily average basis, February’s POS activity was running at approximately $3.26 billion JMD per day, compared to January’s $3.32 billion — essentially flat, indicating that consumer card spending habits are holding steady rather than retreating after the post-Christmas adjustment.
The POS terminal count as at end-February 2025 reached 32,353 — an increase of 266 terminals from January’s 32,087. This incremental growth is the kind of steady, month-by-month expansion that gradually extends Jamaica’s card acceptance infrastructure. At this pace of roughly 266 new terminals per month, the island would add approximately 3,200 terminals over the course of the year — meaningfully broadening the footprint of contactless and card payment capability for both domestic consumers and international visitors.
The importance of terminal expansion for Jamaica’s tourism economy should not be underestimated. Jamaica welcomes several million stopover visitors and cruise passengers each year, the majority of whom prefer card-based payments. Every new POS terminal deployed in a tourism-facing business — a restaurant, craft market, tour operator, accommodation provider — improves the visitor experience and potentially increases spending per tourist by removing cash friction from transactions.
Cards in Circulation: Credit Cards Grow
JMD credit cards in circulation reached 432,887 at end-February 2025, up from 431,738 at end-January — a modest but consistent monthly increase. Credit card issuance in Jamaica has been growing steadily, albeit from a relatively low base. At 432,887 cards against an adult population of approximately 2.1 million, credit card penetration remains below 21% of adults — far lower than comparable rates in the United States or United Kingdom, reflecting both supply-side caution from Jamaican banks around consumer credit risk and demand-side factors including lower average household incomes and a cultural preference for debit-first spending.
JMD debit cards in circulation in February 2025 are reported at 3,765,227, reflecting the active card base after account dormancy adjustments and card renewals. USD credit cards and dual-currency cards remained broadly stable at levels consistent with the small but economically significant segment of Jamaican cardholders who travel internationally or make regular USD-denominated purchases.
Government Bond Market: $820.8 Billion Outstanding
The outstanding stock of Government of Jamaica bonds held in the JAMCLEAR-CSD rose to $820.75 billion JMD at end-February 2025, up from $793.82 billion at end-January — an increase of approximately $26.93 billion in a single month. This expansion reflects continued government bond issuance, either through new primary market offerings or the rollover of maturing short-term instruments into longer-dated bonds.
The sectoral distribution of GOJ bond holdings shows commercial banks holding $329.19 billion, primary dealers $285.78 billion, and secondary dealers $205.78 billion. The bank-held portion of the bond market represents a significant allocation of Jamaican financial sector balance sheets to sovereign debt — a feature common to small open economies where domestic bond markets are relatively thin and banks rely on government securities for both yield and liquidity management.
The CSD processed approximately 8,679 transactions in February 2025, settling approximately $1,045.27 billion JMD and $319.97 million USD. These figures encompass primary issuances, repos and reverse repos, delivery-versus-payment transactions, free-of-payment transfers and entitlement distributions — the full range of bond market activity from initial issuance through secondary trading and income distribution to bondholders.
Cheque Processing: Steady Structural Contraction
The cheque clearing system processed approximately 370,000 JMD items in February 2025, with a combined value of $65.32 billion. Manual USD cheques added approximately 5,770 transactions worth $87.36 million. The February cheque volumes, while lower than January’s, are consistent with the low-usage trajectory that has characterised the Jamaican cheque market for several years.
An average cheque value of approximately $176,540 JMD in February 2025 confirms that paper instruments are now almost exclusively used for high-value, low-frequency transactions where the parties involved — typically lawyers, property developers, government agencies and large corporates — have not yet fully migrated to electronic alternatives for specific transaction types. The continued migration of property settlement payments from cheques to RTGS transfers, a trend that solicitors are actively managing across the Jamaican legal profession, will be one of the key drivers of cheque volume contraction in the years ahead.
February in Context: The 2025 Trajectory
Reading January and February 2025 together, Jamaica’s payment system is performing exactly as one would expect from a maturing, growing digital economy: solid underlying volumes, steady card and terminal network expansion, and a government bond market growing alongside the broader financial system. There are no disruptions or anomalies in the February data comparable to December 2024’s POS terminal spike — the figures are clean and consistent.
For the property market, the February data carries several positive signals: building society RTGS flows indicate continued mortgage disbursement activity, the growing debit and credit card base reflects a broadening of banked consumers who are potential mortgage applicants, and the stable POS spending trajectory suggests consumer confidence is holding up as the year progresses. The BOJ’s monthly payment system bulletin series will continue to provide the granular data through which these trends can be tracked month by month through 2025.
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