Shaneille Samuels^1,, Tricia Morris¹

Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) are currently on the rise across the world, which include the following countries China, Bahamas, and Jamaica. This research study explored the core barriers affecting the uptake of JAM-DEX, Jamaica’s central bank digital currency, using a mixed-methods approach. The study utilised a convergent parallel research design where quantitative and qualitative data were collected simultaneously from questionnaires and interviews. The study included 50 users and 1147 non-users of the currency, merchants, cybersecurity experts, and financial experts. The findings revealed that the primary barriers affecting adopting comprise limited awareness, low levels of financial and digital literacy, and trust-related concerns. Additionally, a key barrier identified is the very high levels of distrust among non-users due to their limited understanding of JAM-DEX, cybersecurity and fraud concerns and low trust in digital financial systems. Users, however have greater awareness and confidence in the currency but reported concerns about the functionality and usability of platforms. Another emerging concern was merchant acceptance impacting the ecosystem readiness but their low level of acceptance reduces the usefulness and effectiveness of the currency. The expert participants (cybersecurity and financial experts) emphasized the need for strengthening regulatory support, security assurance, and transparency to encourage public confidence. The findings suggest that besides technological issues influencing adoption, trust, knowledge and ecosystem readiness remain a challenge, recommending that public education be improved along with strengthening institutional credibility, and expanding merchant participation.

Central Bank Digital Currency, JAM-DEX, barriers, adoption, financial inclusion