Digital voucher system inaugurated by Wipay for Grenada

Grenada: Wipay, the digital payment service provider of Trinidad and Tobago, has provided assistance to the government of Grenada in setting up its Digitally Enabled Uniform Assistance Programme.

This programme would subsidise the cost of school uniforms for around 30,000 families.

On the assistance provided by Wipay, Grenadas' Minister for information, communications and technology - ICT, Pamela Moses appreciated the work of Trinidad and Tobagos' digital payment service provider and asserted that Grenda could not have been at the current position without Wipay.

The Minister made the statement at the launch event, which was also live-streamed on the government's Facebook page on Thursday.

This project is a part of the Grenadian government's assistance in the Education, Empowerment and Development (Seed) programme, a social safety net project on the island.

The Grenada government has signed a memorandum of understanding with Wipay just before the pandemic. Wipay has used the technology it has developed for the Trinidad and Tobago Judiciary's digital payment systems. The new support project uses QR codes for verification.

The Information Minister of Grenada stated that this initiative is a move toward becoming a cashless society for Grenada to become a digital economy. With this, she has also requested the citizens to be patient with the system and be ensured that any issues would be met quickly.

Following the statement, she further added that "We know that people want to have their money in their pocket. We know that people want their voucher in their pocket."

The Minister also informed that depending on the family members approved for Seed funding, they would receive between - $250 and $450 in order to subsidise the cost of school uniforms for the new school year.

This project would commence with 5,000 families on August 9, 2021, with the first of four batches of digital vouchers being issued. It is expected by the Grenada government that the distribution would be completed by August 30, 2021. While the families who do not have a smartphone or email address would have their QR codes printed by the Grenada government.