CUSTOMERS of Trinidad and Tobago’s commercial banks could look forward to paying lower service charges and benefitting from a higher level of security with the launch of the much-touted Inter-Bank Electronic Payment System.

Bankers’ Association President Larry Howai explained that the completely automated payment system would allow customers “to make bank-to-bank payments, salary deductions, and salary payments without paper transactions”.

Dubbed by Central Bank Governor Ewart Williams as the, “Next Generation of electronic payment in Trinidad and Tobago”, the new system is expected to make managing financial transactions quicker, easier, and more secure.

The new system would allow payments of all kind to move smoothly between all banks via a fully-automated process, resulting in instant multiple deposits, more timely payments for individuals and organisations alike, and the elimination of long bank lines.

The initiative was a joint effort between the Central Bank and the six commercial banks that operate in Trinidad and Tobago; and in much the same way the LINX system has made automatic teller and point-of-sale transactions possible, electronic payments could now be made across the entire TnT banking network.

Central Bank
Governor
EWART
WILLIAMS

Bankers’
Association
President
LARRY HOWAI

At the media launch of the new system, Williams said that throughout the world, payment by cheque has been giving way to electronic payments.

“In the United States, which has traditionally been a cheque-based society, we saw electronic payments surpass the use of cheques for the first time in 2003,” he said.

The Central Bank Governor noted that in the last few years, Trinidad and Tobago has seen a sharp increase in the use of credit and debit cards, point-of-sale transactions, on-line banking services, and Internet shopping.

There is a general perception, however, that security is an issue with electronic transfer systems.

Williams emphasised that the new system “overcomes many of the security issues involved in handling electronic payments”.

He also revealed that new laws would soon be implemented to support the new system.

“The Central Bank is working with government to amend existing legislation to support a modern and efficient national payments and settlements system that recognises the reality of electronic systems,” he added.

At a short question-and-answer session after the launch, Howai said that depositors should not expect to pay higher service charges for the new system as automation is expected to result in lower costs.