Barbados Governor Urges Credit Unions to Prepare to Join BiMPay

Central Bank of Barbados Governor Dr. Kevin Greenidge urged credit unions to fund several productive industries and prepare to join BiMPay, placing payment access alongside safeguards for members’ savings.

Greenidge delivered the remarks Oct. 24 at a Bridgetown dinner marking the 40th anniversary of the UWI (Cave Hill) Co-operative Credit Union. He named renewable energy and energy efficiency, agriculture and food production, tourism services, and digital or export-oriented businesses as potential areas for investment.

He cautioned that national development goals alone do not make a project a sound investment. “A project does not become a good investment simply because it serves a national objective,” Greenidge said.

Greenidge urged eligible credit unions to prepare for the operational and regulatory requirements to join BiMPay. He said the payment system had processed more than 3.5 million transactions since its June 12, 2026, launch, with 95.6% of payment attempts succeeding. Those were cumulative figures included in his Oct. 24 remarks. BiMPay’s current phase handles Barbados-dollar transactions through local financial institutions. It is payment infrastructure, not a central bank digital currency.

Barbados had 23 credit unions as of May 2026, serving more than 220,000 members and holding over 3 billion Barbados dollars in assets. The sector’s membership total may include people who belong to more than one credit union.

Credit union assets grew 4.9% in 2025. Over the same period, the sector’s capital-to-assets ratio fell to 10.9% from 11.2%, while return on average assets declined to 0.4% from 0.6%.