Fintech & payments regulation in Bahamas (2026)
Fintech and digital payments in Bahamas: licensing regime.
The Bahamas operates a mature, dual-regulator licensing regime for digital payments and fintech. The Central Bank of The Bahamas (CBB) licenses non-bank payment service providers and e-money issuers under the Payment Systems Act 2012 and Payment Instruments (Oversight) Regulations 2017, while the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCB) regulates digital asset businesses under the DARE Act 2024 (in force 29 July 2024). The country also issued the world's first live retail CBDC (Sand Dollar) in October 2020 and contracted Montran to build a national Fast Payment System targeting Q1 2027.
Legal framework
Payment Systems Act 2012 & Payment Instruments (Oversight) Regulations 2017 (Central Bank of The Bahamas); Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges Act 2024 (Securities Commission of The Bahamas)
Key points: digital payments & fintech in Bahamas
Non-Bank PSP & E-Money Licensing
The Payment Systems Act 2012 and Payment Instruments (Oversight) Regulations 2017 require non-bank payment institutions and e-money issuers to obtain a Central Bank licence. Minimum paid-up capital of USD 100,000 and annual fees of BSD 10,000 apply, with mandatory physical presence including a CEO, Compliance Officer, and Money Laundering Reporting Officer.
Digital Assets, DARE Act 2024
The Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges Act 2024, administered by the Securities Commission of The Bahamas, came into force on 29 July 2024, replacing the 2020 DARE Act. It expanded licensing coverage to advisory/management services, derivatives, staking, and stablecoins, while expressly prohibiting algorithmic stablecoins, aligned with IOSCO and FATF standards.
Sand Dollar CBDC
The Bahamas launched the Sand Dollar, the world's first retail CBDC, in October 2020. Nine Authorised Financial Institutions, banks, money transmission businesses, credit unions, and payment service providers, are cleared to distribute it, governed by the Electronic Bahamian Dollars Regulations 2021. Proposals to mandate commercial bank participation are under active consideration.
Fast Payment System, Under Construction
The Central Bank selected Montran Corporation to build a national Fast Payment System (FPS) targeting a Q1 2027 go-live. The FPS will interoperate with the existing ACH, RTGS, and Sand Dollar CBDC infrastructure, creating one of the first combined real-time payment and live CBDC environments globally.
Dual-Regulator Structure
Traditional payment institutions and e-money issuers are supervised by the Central Bank of The Bahamas under the Payment Systems Act, while fintech entities dealing in digital assets (crypto exchanges, stablecoin issuers, digital asset managers) fall under the Securities Commission of The Bahamas under DARE 2024, each authority maintaining distinct licensing tracks.
BNPL & Open Banking
No specific BNPL regulatory framework or formal open banking mandate has been enacted as of mid-2026. Ongoing FPS and CBDC interoperability work is expected to lay infrastructure for open finance products, but dedicated BNPL and open banking rules remain absent from the regulatory calendar.
Timeline of decisions
- Guidance · officialCentral Bank launches consultation on overhaul of Payment Systems Act and e-money regulations
The Central Bank of The Bahamas published a consolidated consultation paper proposing amendments to the Payment Systems Act 2012 and Payment Instruments (Oversight) Regulations 2017, including migrating money-transmission business oversight from the Banks and Trust Companies Regulation Act into the unified payments-services framework. Public comments were invited through 31 October 2025.
Central Bank of The Bahamas
- Decision · officialCentral Bank announces mandatory two-year Sand Dollar integration plan for commercial banks
Governor John Rolle publicly stated that all licensed commercial banks would be required to offer Sand Dollar CBDC access to clients within a two-year window, marking a shift from voluntary participation to mandated distribution and intended to address persistently low consumer adoption.
Central Bank of The Bahamas
- Guidance · officialSecurities Commission opens public consultation on DARE Bill 2023
Prompted partly by the FTX collapse, the Securities Commission of The Bahamas released the draft DARE Bill 2023, drafted with Hogan Lovells, expanding licensing categories, adding explicit stablecoin registration and reserve requirements (banning algorithmic stablecoins), and tightening custody and consumer-protection standards. The consultation closed 31 May 2023 and fed directly into the DARE Act 2024.
Securities Commission of The Bahamas
- Decision · officialSand Dollar CBDC launched nationally, world's first live central bank digital currency
The Central Bank of The Bahamas officially deployed the Sand Dollar across all islands on 20 October 2020, making The Bahamas the first country to put a CBDC into general circulation. The Sand Dollar is a digital equivalent of the Bahamian dollar, issued and regulated by the Central Bank, intended to improve financial inclusion across the archipelago and maintain payment resilience against natural disasters.
Sand Dollar / Central Bank of The Bahamas
- Law · officialCentral Bank of The Bahamas Act 2020 enacted, explicitly empowering CBDC issuance
The new Central Bank of The Bahamas Act 2020, enacted alongside the Banks and Trust Companies Regulation Act 2020, replaced the 2000 Act, modernised the Central Bank's governance and resolution powers, and crucially included an explicit provision authorising the Central Bank to issue digital currency, providing the legal foundation for the Sand Dollar.
Central Bank of The Bahamas
- Law · officialPayment Instruments (Oversight) Regulations 2017, licensing framework for non-bank e-money issuers
The Central Bank issued the Payment Instruments (Oversight) Regulations 2017 under the Payment Systems Act 2012, establishing the first formal licensing and prudential requirements for non-bank providers of electronic money and retail payment instruments. This created the regulatory pathway that enabled fintechs and eventually the Sand Dollar ecosystem to operate legally.
Central Bank of The Bahamas
- Law · officialPayment Systems Act 2012 enacted, foundational statute for digital payments oversight
The Payment Systems Act 2012 gave the Central Bank of The Bahamas statutory authority to formulate national payment-system policy, require approval for any domestic payment system, oversee payment instruments (including electronic money), and establish the National Payments Committee. It remains the primary legislative anchor for all non-bank payment-service-provider regulation in the country.
Central Bank of The Bahamas
Sources
- centralbankbahamas.com/digital-payments
- centralbankbahamas.com/news/public-notices/overview-of-payment-systems-legislation-synopsis-
- cdn.centralbankbahamas.com/download/023811100.pdf
- centralbankbahamas.com/viewPDF/documents/2025-05-13-14-14-38-Payment-Systems-Oversight-Regul
- scb.gov.bs/dare/
- scb.gov.bs/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Media-Release-The-Bahamas-Introduces-Trans
- centralbankbahamas.com/news/press-releases/montran-corporation-selected-to-provide-the-baham
- sanddollar.bs/about
- centralbankbahamas.com/viewPDF/documents/2021-02-15-11-24-12-Central-Bank-Electronic-Bahamia
- iclg.com/practice-areas/fintech-laws-and-regulations/bahamas
- centralbankbahamas.com/news/public-procurement/request-for-proposals-rfp-for-fast-payment-sy
- scb.gov.bs/the-bahamas-digital-asset-and-fintech-advantage/
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