Key Takeaways:
- Jamaica’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) now has a name.
- The name of Jamaica’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) is JAMAICA DIGITAL EXCHANGE. It is also known as JAM-DEX in short.
The name, logo, tagline, and image design competition for the Bank of Jamaica’s (BOJ) CBDC has concluded. Jamaica’s central bank digital currency now has a name. It announced the name of its CBDC in a press release. The name of Jamaica’s central bank digital currency is JAMAICA DIGITAL EXCHANGE. It is also known as JAM-DEX in short. The name was chosen as the winning name, with the tagline “No cash, no problem!” The winning logo incorporates the very distinct outline of Jamaica’s national fruit and the key ingredient in national dishes, the ackee.
Ms Ashley Payne received a total of J$600,000 (J$350,000 for the name and J$250,000 for the tagline) in regular currency. She also received a total of J$50,000 in CBDC, for winning both prizes in the name and tagline competition. For conceptualising and designing the logo, Mr Gerrard Harvey received J$350,000 in regular currency and J$25,000 in CBDC. Both winners were presented with their awards at a small ceremony at BOJ in August 2021. Because there were no winners in the representative image category, the design was completed in-house by BOJ’s graphic arts unit.
A small panel of judges led by Mrs Natalie Haynes, BOJ Deputy Governor in charge of Banking, Currency, and Financial Markets Infrastructure, was tasked with sifting through over a hundred entries in each category. Other members of the panel were then, BOJ Communications Director, Mr Tony Morrison; BOJ Senior Graphic Artist, Tashna Bulli; Project Director in the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport (and former BOJ employee), Mr Lenford Salmon; and the Head of Department, Visual Communication, Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, Mrs Shauna Gaye Murray-Coke.
About the name JAM-DEX
The judges agreed that they wanted a name that is easily and preferably instantly recognised internationally as uniquely Jamaican. They even wanted that the name should speak about brand Jamaica and the Jamaican vibe. The secondary consideration in completing the puzzle was that the name must represent not just money, but digital money. The full name, Jamaica Digital Exchange, took care of that. The finishing touch was the visual reinforcement of running dollar signs through the ‘D’ in ‘DEX.’
About the Tagline
The tagline for the name had to match the Jamaican-recognition factor. It should also speak about digital currency and/or its use in some way. “No Problem” is a phrase that instantly conjures up images of Jamaica. More importantly, expresses the mood they wanted consumers and businesses to have when they used Jam-Dex. ‘No cash, no problem,’ simply but emphatically expresses the ease and worry-free convenience of using Jam-Dex as a cash substitute.
