Guyana’s banking sector is set for one of its biggest transformations in decades, with the expansion of real-time digital payment systems and the entry of three international financial institutions into the local market, President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali announced Saturday.
Speaking at the 190th anniversary dinner of the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry at the Guyana Marriott Hotel Georgetown, President Ali said the country is rapidly modernising its financial architecture to support a growing digital economy and expanding private sector activity.
Central to that transformation is the rollout of FASTA, Guyana’s new real-time payments system, which is scheduled to become operational on June 2.
Under the platform, customers using participating banks will be able to transfer and receive money instantly through mobile phones and online banking services, eliminating the delays traditionally associated with cheque clearing and branch processing.
“Transactions that previously required clearing cycles or branch-level processing will now be completed in seconds,” Ali said.
He noted that the system is expected to reduce dependence on cash transactions, lower transaction costs for businesses and households, and improve the efficiency of commercial activity across the country.
The president also announced Guyana’s integration into India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI), one of the world’s largest digital payment systems developed by the National Payments Corporation of India.
The UPI platform allows users to conduct secure digital transactions through a Virtual Payment Address without disclosing bank account information. Ali said Guyana’s partnership with India will connect the country directly to a globally recognised payments infrastructure as government pushes to expand financial inclusion and digital services.
“Together, these two initiatives will position Guyana at the forefront of digital financial transformation in the region,” the president said.
Ali further disclosed that the Bank of Guyana has approved licences for three international financial institutions — Citibank, Crown Agents Bank and One American Bank — to begin operating in Guyana.
While the institutions are not expected to operate as retail commercial banks, the president said their presence will strengthen Guyana’s access to international financing, trade services, development funding and corporate advisory support.
He described the approvals as a sign of growing international confidence in Guyana’s economic management and regulatory framework.
Ali said the domestic banking sector is already recording strong expansion, pointing to private sector credit growth of 20.4 per cent in 2025 across construction, agriculture, wholesale and retail trade, and the services sector.
Against that backdrop, the president praised Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry for its pace of technological modernisation and long-term investment strategy.
“GBTI is ahead of this golden era,” he said. “They are modernising at a pace that is unbelievable.”
Founded 190 years ago, GBTI is among the Caribbean’s oldest financial institutions, tracing its origins to the Colonial Bank system established during the post-emancipation era.
During his address, Ali reflected on the evolution of banking in Guyana and the wider Caribbean, from plantation-era financing arrangements to today’s increasingly diversified and technology-driven financial sector.
The president congratulated the bank’s management, staff and board of directors for what he described as their longstanding contribution to national development and financial services.
As Guyana prepares to celebrate its 60th Independence Anniversary later this month, Ali said the country is entering “a new golden era of banking” that he believes will support broader economic prosperity and national development.
Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry, Suresh Beharry, also addressed the anniversary gathering.
