MobileAssist app embraces local digital currency integration with Sand Dollar launch

MobileAssist app embraces local digital currency integration with Sand Dollar launch

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — In line with Central Bank’s full rollout of its Sand Dollar digital currency, slated for this month, Bahamian fintech company CBI Mobile (Bahamas) Ltd has completed integration and formally introduced use of the digital currency, making it available to its base of thousands of users and hundreds of merchants worldwide.

CBI Mobile (Bahamas) Ltd owns the transactional ecosystem app MobileAssist, whose users can now create a Sand Dollar account, easily convert MobileAssist Tokens (which carry the same value as BSD dollars) to Sand Dollars and vice versa, as well as load their Sand Dollar accounts with credit or debit cards.

App users will also be able to convert Sand Dollars instantaneously for cash via the use of any one of the 143 cashier stations at any of the stores and with 13 cashback locations available through the Super Value Quality Supermarkets franchise.

Central Bank Governor John Rolle said: “We are impressed with the functionality and flexibility MobileAssist now offers Sand Dollar holders.

“One of our most frequently asked questions is how an average consumer would benefit from a digital currency such as ours. MobileAssist has successfully demonstrated what we have been explaining since the inception of Sand Dollar; it can be used everywhere and in every way a dollar bill and card can and much more conveniently.”

MobileAssist also has a network of more than 150 local merchants that features utility companies like REV and New Providence Water Company, restaurants, car rental companies, beauty salons, freight forwarders, convenience and grocery stores and non-profits, allowing for the possibility of spending Sand Dollar on the app in a large and growing transactional ecosystem made up of customer and merchants.

The company is actively working to increase its cashout points across the country, with Janaees Uniform Centre recently finalizing agreements to become a cashback location.

MobileAssist CEO Dr Donovan Moxey said: “We know that people will become more acclimatized to using digital currencies like the Sand Dollar, in the same way we now use our debit and credit cards. Our aim is to make the transition seamless, user-friendly and, most importantly, secure and convenient.”

MobileAssist has grown to over 101,000 downloads, with more than 8,500 registered users and over 1,300 digital wallets, executing on average 2,500 transactions per month.

Users are encouraged to update their MobileAssist app using Google Play (Android) and the App Store (iPhone) to experience full functionality of digital payments.

Those wishing to top-up their MobileAssist wallets can use a debit or credit card, or have their employer pay them directly via their MobileAssist digital wallet using the platform’s payroll feature.