The Central Bank of The Bahamas signed an agreement with NZIA Limited to design and implement a digital version of the Bahamian dollar, later branded the Sand Dollar. The Bank identified Exuma as the first pilot location, aiming to modernize payments and improve access to electronic transactions across the islands.
In early public communications, the Central Bank explained that Exuma would be used to test the digital currency in a real community setting before expanding nationwide. This step set expectations that the project would be rolled out in phases, learning from the pilot before scaling.
The Sand Dollar moved from planning to live testing with the launch of the Exuma pilot. The pilot phase was meant to validate the technology, enrollment process, and merchant acceptance in day-to-day payments before a wider rollout.
Program materials described how individuals could access the Sand Dollar using approved e-wallets and clarified risk controls such as tiered wallets. For example, Tier I wallets were designed with lower holding and monthly transaction limits, while Tier II wallets required more identification and supported higher limits and bank-account linking.
After initial experience in Exuma, the Central Bank expanded the pilot to Abaco. Expanding to a second island group helped test the system in a different community and strengthened the case for a broader national deployment.
As pilots progressed, the Central Bank communicated that the Sand Dollar would begin a gradual national release on October 20, 2020. This announcement signaled the transition from limited testing to a planned nationwide availability.
The Sand Dollar program documentation described access options beyond smartphone apps, including a physical payment card that can access a digital wallet. This design choice aimed to broaden usability for people who may not have consistent smartphone access.
The Central Bank launched the Sand Dollar nationwide, making the digital Bahamian dollar broadly available through authorized financial institutions’ e-wallets. This step marked the move from island pilots to a countrywide payment option backed by the central bank.
Public explanations of the Sand Dollar highlighted why a retail central bank digital currency could matter in an island nation, including improving access to regulated payments and lowering dependence on physical cash. These rationales helped frame the national rollout as part of a longer-term payments modernization strategy.
Following the nationwide launch, the Central Bank indicated that Digital B$ could be accepted by merchants using Central Bank-approved e-wallets on mobile devices. Early post-launch coverage emphasized domestic-only use and day-to-day payments and transfers through digital wallets.
As more authorized financial institutions integrated the system, providers began highlighting interoperability—allowing Sand Dollar users to transact beyond a single wallet provider’s closed network. This supported the national goal of a more unified digital payments ecosystem rather than separate, non-connecting apps.
In the years after the 2020 rollout, the Sand Dollar was widely cited as an early example of a retail CBDC moving from pilot to national availability. Its 2019–2020 path—contracting, piloting on selected islands, then nationwide release—became a concrete case study for other central banks evaluating similar initiatives.
The Bahamas' Sand Dollar design, pilot and national launch (2019–2020)