Practical how-tos and explainers for everyday personal finance. (7 articles)
The Central Bank of Barbados says an unauthorised transaction followed after someone gave a fake lender two verification codes and a BiMPay token. Those three things match what the BiMPay app asks for when you register and link a bank account to it.
A caller with a UK number rang me, named someone I know from a WhatsApp group I belong to, and asked me to read back a code they were about to send. That code is the only thing standing between a stranger and your WhatsApp account.
Barbados ran its own debit network, CarIFS, for more than two decades and then handed debit card payments to Visa and Mastercard. Card fees rose, the Central Bank had to step in, and BiMPay is the second home-grown rail, and the first one the country itself owns.
BiMPay is Barbados' new instant payment system, and the world's closest match is Brazil's Pix. Here's what the two share, how they differ, and where BiMPay is heading.
BiMPay is live in Barbados, and money now moves in about ten seconds. Here is what it costs, whether you need a bank account, and why your bank is calling it 1stPay+ or SMARTPay.
Credit unions send 'Principal Reload' offers that feel like rewards. They're not. Here's what they're really costing you.
My notes from the MyTwoCents financial seminar in Barbados, from the six-account money method to mortgage negotiation and the hurdles contract workers face getting approved.