- Jamaica processed J$6.84 trillion via RTGS in the first quarter of 2025.
- POS transactions rose 10.2% in volume year-on-year across Q1 2025.
- Active POS terminals reached 32,676 in March, up 11% from March 2024.
- ABM cash withdrawals jumped 39.5% in volume compared with Q1 2024.
- Electronic retail payment values hit J$1.55 trillion across 52.8 million transactions.
- JMD debit card base reached 3.79 million cards at month end.
Jamaica’s payment infrastructure delivered its strongest first-quarter performance on record in 2025, with POS terminal growth, surging ABM withdrawals, and deepening card penetration all pointing to an economy where digital and cash-based transactions are expanding simultaneously — challenging the narrative that electronic payments are simply cannibalising cash use.
The Bank of Jamaica’s Payment System Data Bulletin for March 2025 reveals a payment landscape expanding broadly across both wholesale and retail channels. The JAMCLEAR-RTGS high-value settlement network processed J$6,839.34 billion (approximately J$6.84 trillion) across January through March 2025, reflecting the sustained volume of large-value interbank, securities, and government payment flows that form the backbone of Jamaica’s financial system. At the retail level, consumers and businesses completed 52.8 million electronic payment transactions worth J$1.55 trillion in Jamaica dollar terms over the same three-month period — alongside a striking 39.5% year-on-year surge in ATM cash withdrawal volumes that underscores just how vigorously demand for physical currency is growing alongside digital alternatives.
RTGS: The Engine of High-Value Settlement
The JAMCLEAR-RTGS system settled 1,233,597 transactions across Q1 2025, with Jamaican dollar values totalling J$6,839.34 billion. Merchant banks dominated the value landscape, accounting for J$4,572.53 billion or 66.9% of total JMD settlement value — reflecting the concentration of large corporate treasury and government payment activity within the commercial banking sector. Building societies contributed J$1,012.21 billion (14.8%), while the “other” category — encompassing credit unions, insurance companies, and non-bank financial intermediaries — accounted for J$877.02 billion (12.8%). Primary dealers, which intermediate the government securities market, settled J$54.35 billion (0.8%) in JMD-denominated transactions.
In US dollar terms, RTGS processed US$654.73 million across Q1 2025, with merchant banks again leading at US$512.60 million (78.3% of USD value). Building societies settled US$116.31 million (17.8%) in foreign currency — a proportion that likely reflects the mortgage sector’s management of USD-denominated liabilities and foreign currency-linked lending products. The RTGS system’s dual-currency architecture, processing JMD and USD flows within the same settlement framework, is a structural advantage for Jamaica’s open economy and a critical enabler of the currency conversion and cross-border payment services that underpin both the tourism and remittance sectors.
POS Expansion Continues: Terminals Up 11%, Transactions Up 10%
The most vivid signal of Jamaica’s retail payment deepening comes from the POS terminal network. As of March 2025, 32,676 point-of-sale terminals were installed and active across the island — an increase of 3,237 terminals, or 11.0%, compared with the 29,439 terminals recorded in March 2024. This pace of terminal expansion, equivalent to roughly 270 new terminals per month over the past twelve months, reflects continued investment by acquiring banks and payment networks in the physical infrastructure that enables card payments at the point of purchase.
The terminal growth is translating directly into higher transaction volumes. Across Q1 2025, POS terminals processed 22.19 million JMD-denominated transactions worth J$310.36 billion, up from 20.13 million transactions worth J$284.48 billion in Q1 2024 — growth of 10.2% in volume and 9.1% in value. The slightly lower value growth rate relative to volume growth implies that individual transaction sizes were marginally smaller on average in Q1 2025 than Q1 2024, a pattern consistent with the broadening of card acceptance to lower-value retail environments — supermarkets, pharmacies, fast-food outlets, and informal market stalls — where average transaction sizes are smaller than at larger merchants.
Foreign currency POS transactions added US$176.29 million across 873,210 transactions in Q1 2025, predominantly representing tourist and visitor spending at hotels, restaurants, and tourism-adjacent retail. This segment is a direct read-through to Jamaica’s tourism receipts and the health of the hospitality sector in the traditionally strong January-to-March visitor season.
The ABM Paradox: Cash Withdrawals Surge Alongside Digital Growth
Perhaps the most counterintuitive finding in the March 2025 bulletin is the dramatic growth in ABM cash withdrawal activity. Q1 2025 ABM JMD transactions reached 17.03 million, valued at J$302.25 billion — compared with 12.21 million transactions worth J$211.87 billion in Q1 2024. The year-on-year volume increase of 39.5% and value increase of 42.7% are extraordinary by any measure, suggesting a fundamental shift in how Jamaicans are accessing cash rather than a simple continuation of existing trends.
Several explanations merit consideration. First, the expansion of the ABM network and improvements in machine uptime — even with the challenges documented in the BOJ’s concurrent monthly ABM performance bulletins — may have unlocked latent demand from communities that previously faced access barriers, drawing new users into formal ABM cash withdrawal behaviour. Second, the normalisation of digital wages and salary payments to bank accounts creates a structural link: more Jamaicans receiving their pay electronically means more Jamaicans visiting ABMs to convert digital balances into the cash they need for daily transactions in Jamaica’s still-predominantly-cash informal economy. Third, inflationary pressure on the cost of living, even at moderate levels, mechanically increases the Jamaican dollar value of each withdrawal as prices rise — contributing to the 42.7% value growth even if the underlying real withdrawal activity grew by less.
Electronic Retail: 52.8 Million Transactions in Three Months
Across all electronic retail channels in Q1 2025, the system processed 52.8 million JMD-denominated transactions worth J$1,553.22 billion. Debit cards dominated by volume, accounting for 38.85 million transactions (73.6% of total) worth J$451.51 billion — reflecting Jamaica’s overwhelmingly debit-card-first consumer behaviour, driven by the combination of high debit card penetration and historically lower credit card adoption relative to regional peers. Credit cards contributed 8.51 million transactions (16.1% of volume) worth J$385.32 billion — a value-to-volume ratio more than triple that of debit cards, consistent with credit cards being used preferentially for larger-ticket purchases, online transactions, and travel-related spending.
The “other electronic” category — encompassing ACH transfers, mobile money, online banking payments, and bill payment platforms — processed 5.44 million transactions worth J$716.38 billion. This category’s disproportionately high value relative to volume reflects the presence of large-value business-to-business and consumer bill payments that flow through electronic channels rather than card rails. In US dollar terms, the system processed 14.59 million transactions worth US$1,026.57 million across all electronic retail channels in Q1 2025, with USD debit cards accounting for 12.63 million of those transactions.
Card Base Expansion: 3.79 Million Debit Cards and Growing
The stock of cards in circulation at the end of March 2025 reinforces the picture of a steadily widening base of electronic payment access. JMD debit cards outstanding reached 3,789,574 — approaching 3.8 million cards in a country with an adult population of approximately 2.2 million, implying that many Jamaicans hold multiple debit cards across different bank relationships, or that inactive cards remain counted in the stock. JMD credit cards stood at 433,668, a ratio of roughly one credit card for every 8.7 debit cards that reflects the structural gap between debit and credit penetration in Jamaica compared to more financially developed markets.
USD credit cards outstanding totalled 25,102, while 43,303 USD dual-currency cards — which offer holders the ability to spend in both Jamaican and US dollars from a single card — were active at month end. The dual-currency card segment, though small in absolute terms, is strategically significant for Jamaica’s tourism workers, returning diaspora members, and professionals who regularly transact in both currencies, and its steady expansion reflects ongoing product development by the commercial banking sector to serve cross-currency consumer needs.
Securities and Repo Activity: CSD Processed J$3.5 Trillion in March
The JAMCLEAR-CSD central securities depository processed 28,081 transactions in March 2025 alone, with a total Jamaican dollar value of J$3,509.35 billion — reflecting the substantial volume of government bond issuance, secondary market trading, and open market operations that flow through the securities settlement infrastructure each month. Entitlements proceeds — coupon payments, redemptions, and other income distributions to bondholders — accounted for the largest share by volume (40.9%, or 11,483 transactions) and a substantial share by value (J$1,516.18 billion, 43.2% of total).
Repo and reverse repo transactions — the central bank’s primary tools for managing liquidity in the banking system — together accounted for 6,476 transactions in March 2025 worth J$1,018.90 billion (combining repos at J$515.22 billion and reverse repos at J$503.68 billion). The near-equal balance between repo and reverse repo volumes is indicative of an actively managed liquidity framework, with the BOJ using both injection and absorption operations in March to keep overnight rates within its target corridor.
What Q1 2025 Tells Us About Jamaica’s Economic Trajectory
The Q1 2025 payment system data collectively paints a picture of an economy with healthy transactional activity across all channels. POS growth at double-digit rates signals continued consumer spending momentum, while ABM volume growth far exceeding expectations suggests that cash is far from disappearing from Jamaican economic life — it is, if anything, being accessed more frequently as formal banking penetration and account ownership deepen. The CSD’s processing of over J$3.5 trillion in securities transactions in March alone attests to a government bond market that remains an active, liquid cornerstone of Jamaica’s financial system.
For the real estate sector, the combination of rising card usage, expanding POS access, and high remittance inflows points to consumers with increasing transactional confidence — a precondition for the housing investment decisions that drive mortgage applications and property sales. For investors and businesses, the robust Q1 settlement volumes suggest that the financial plumbing underlying Jamaica’s economy is operating with capacity and confidence. The full-quarter data for Q1 2025 now serves as the baseline against which Q2 performance will be measured as the BOJ publishes its April, May, and June bulletins in the months ahead.
Follow Jamaica Homes on Youtube @jamaicahomes and Instagram @jamaica_homes and on Facebook @jamaicahomesnews Send us a message or email us at onlinefeedback@jamaica-homes.com or editor@jamaica-homes.com
Visit our YouTube Community ↗