- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 31/Jul 03:23

CourtPay: How Caribbean tools can solve big government problems

When we talk about digital transformation in the Caribbean, we often look abroad. We praise Brazil’s Pix, Kenya’s M-Pesa and India’s UPI, as world-changing innovations. But there’s a quiet revolution that’s been happening right here in TT – and most people still don’t realise it. It’s called CourtPay. Launched in 2018 and developed by local fintech WiPay, CourtPay is TT’s first and only national online payment system for court-related transactions. Seven years later, it has processed hundreds of millions of dollars, maintained 99.9 per cent uptime, and evolved into a national asset that serves both the digitally savvy and the financially excluded. But this article isn’t just about what CourtPay is – it’s about what it represents. Solving a real problem, not just digitising paperwork CourtPay didn’t begin as a big bang government initiative. It started with a single, highly emotional use case – child maintenance payments. It gave parents the ability to fulfill legal obligations without having to stand in court lines or navigate complex bureaucracy. Then it scaled – into fines, filing fees and attorney licensing. But the real magic is in how it scaled: through channels the average citizen actually uses. CourtPay is accessible via: · Online card payments · Direct bank account debits · And most critically – top-up vouchers available at 1,000+ NLCB Lotto booths across the country This hybrid model mirrors the agent network model of M-Pesa in Kenya, which found that proximity to trusted agents was the number one factor in mobile money adoption in rural communities. CourtPay stands among global leaders – Quietly Globally, we’ve seen how digital payment platforms can lift nations: · M-Pesa helped 194,000 households rise out of poverty and doubled bank account ownership among users. [caption id="attachment_1169349" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Members of the Judiciary and TT International Financial Centre (TTIFC) mark the seventh anniversary of CourtPay, TT's online payment system for court-related transactions, on July 25 at the TTIFC Innovator Centre, Port of Spain. - Photo courtesy TTIFC[/caption] · UPI in India now processes 18+ billion transactions monthly, accounting for 85 per cent of all digital payments in the country. · Pix in Brazil onboarded 40 million unbanked citizens in just three years. And here in TT, CourtPay has quietly: · Delivered 99.9 per cent uptime – more than most private fintech apps. · Expanded court access to unbanked, rural and low-income citizens using widely available payment points. · Proven that a local fintech can design a public service with national reach and resilience. This isn’t a case study. This is a blueprint. Beyond payments: Fiscal reform in disguise Digital public payment systems don’t just offer convenience, they offer serious financial returns for governments. According to the IMF, digitising government payments can save 0.8 - 1.1 per cent of a country’s GDP annually, by cutting fraud, reducing manual processing and tightening financial controls. For TT, that could translate into over $1.2–$1.6 billion per year in potential savings. This isn’t about spending money on tech. This is about saving billions through smarter infrastructure. Trust is the real infrastructure What makes CourtPay powerful isn’t just its features – it’s the trust it has built quietly over time. Public trust is the foundation of digital transformation. Studies show that trust in a government service must exist before trust in the digital platform can follow. CourtPay earned that trust by being: · Simple to use · Always available · And designed around real-life user behaviour, not government red tape It also helped the judiciary pivot during covid19. CourtPay gave citizens a way to fulfill court orders without setting foot inside a court, helping keep the justice system functioning during lockdowns. The Caribbean needs more CourtPays, not more pilots Let’s be honest — across the Caribbean, we’ve seen too many "pilot programmes" that never scale. [caption id="attachment_1169348" align="alignnone" width="1024"] -[/caption] We’ve invested in shiny tech that doesn’t work for the people who need it most. And we’ve been slow to trust our own innovators to solve our national problems. CourtPay flips that narrative It’s Caribbean-built, nationally deployed and already delivering world-class results. More importantly, it didn’t try to do everything at once. It started with a pain point (child maintenance), solved it beautifully, then scaled from there. That’s how real digital transformation works. So what’s the takeaway? CourtPay isn’t just a win for the Judiciary or WiPay: It’s a signal to the region. It proves that: · We don’t need to wait on Silicon Valley to build reliable digital services. · Local fintechs can be critical partners in public sector modernisation. · Small island states can use technology to leapfrog outdated systems, just like Kenya did with landlines. · The unbanked and underserved can be reached — if we design for them from day one. What’s next? If we can digitise court payments successfully, what’s stopping us from doing the same with: · Traffic fines. · Land registry fees. · Business licences. · Health insurance payments. We’ve built the infrastructure. We’ve proven the model. All that’s left is the will to scale. CourtPay should not be an exception – it should be the new standard. Keron Rose is a Caribbean-based digital strategist and digital nomad currently living in Thailand. He helps entrepreneurs across the region build their digital presence, monetise their platforms and tap into global opportunities. Through his content and experiences in Asia, Rose shares real-world insights to help the Caribbean think bigger and move smarter in the digital age. Listen to the Digipreneur FM podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube.   The post CourtPay: How Caribbean tools can solve big government problems appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.