NEWS
IBM Canada
and Celero
sign seven-year
agreement
Bank of Jamaica developing
digital currency
IBM and Celero, a leading solutions
integrator for Canadian credit unions,
have signed a seven-year, multi-million dollar
strategic outsourcing agreement.
This will modernize and transform Celero’s
data center and data center network
environments, moving its infrastructure
services on to a hybrid cloud environment.
Through this agreement, Celero will
significantly advance the digital banking
technologies, cloud services, security and
payment solutions it provides to more than
110 credit unions and financial institutions
across Canada, further positioning its
capabilities to support business and
economic recovery from the implications
of COVID-19.
Operational resiliency of critical business
services, uninterrupted service, remote and
easy access and rigorous data security
measures against disruptions and threats
are critical for credit unions in how they
provide innovative service delivery and
excellence to members.
“Innovation cannot stop in a crisis; in fact,
it is instrumental in navigating out of one,”
said Xerxes Cooper, General Manager of
Global Technology Services for IBM Canada.
“I believe what we’ll see in a post-COVID
economy is those businesses that fought
the urge to shift their priorities and instead
recognized the imperative to accelerate their
Digital Transformation, will emerge stronger
and more prepared.”
As an alternative to cash, the Bank of
Jamaica, BOJ, plans to test a digital
currency later this year.
The central bank digital currency,
or CBDC, would be additional to
banknotes and coins. It will be backed
by the central bank as legal tender and
will be tenable only in Jamaica.
The pilot or test phase will begin in
December under the BOJ’s sandbox
programme for fintech innovations.
However, it may be another two years
or more before the digital currency is
formally put into circulation.
The CBDC will not be tradeable
against physical cash, as is the case for
cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, which
can be exchanged for hard currency at
a transacted value.
That’s due in part to the differences
between a digital currency, which
is backed by a central bank and
government, and a cryptocurrency,
which is privately issued, generally
not backed by a central authority and
does not perform all the essential
functions of money.
Electronic payments in Jamaica
topped US$7.3 trillion last year. The
introduction of digital money
would become the latest means to
facilitate greater financial inclusion
through technology.
10 INTELLIGENTCIO www.intelligentcio.com