{"id":168502,"date":"2023-06-07T05:45:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-07T10:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ict-pulse.com\/?p=168502"},"modified":"2023-06-07T05:48:47","modified_gmt":"2023-06-07T10:48:47","slug":"ictp-255-exploring-fintech-in-the-dutch-caribbean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2023\/06\/ictp-255-exploring-fintech-in-the-dutch-caribbean\/","title":{"rendered":"ICTP 255:\u00a0 Exploring fintech in the Dutch Caribbean"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Continuing with our Fintech in the Caribbean series, we explore the fintech space in the Dutch Caribbean, which comprises Aruba, Bonaire Cura\u00e7ao and Sint Maarten, Sint Eustatius and Saba, and are part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. With Senior Financial Policy Advisor, Emilio Kalmera, and Founder and CEO of Girasol Payments Solutions, Marwan Rozier, they discussed among other things: the fintech scene in Cura\u00e7ao and Sint Maarten; the wider tech entrepreneurship landscape; and the biggest challenge that tech entrepreneurs in their home countries are experiencing.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/iframe><div style=\"font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/user-673719274\" title=\"ICT Pulse Podcast\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;\" rel=\"noopener\">ICT Pulse Podcast<\/a> \u00b7 <a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/user-673719274\/ictp-255-exploring-fintech-in\" title=\"ICTP 255: Exploring fintech in the Dutch Caribbean\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;\" rel=\"noopener\">ICTP 255: Exploring fintech in the Dutch Caribbean<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\nThis episode is also available on <a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/user-673719274\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SoundCloud<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/ict-pulse-podcast\/id1373550291\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Apple Podcasts<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.google.com\/feed\/aHR0cHM6Ly9pY3QtcHVsc2UtcG9kY2FzdC5saWJzeW4uY29tL3Jzcw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Google Podcasts<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/3d0U4ZYX80e5lenYLdzyX4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Spotify<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/music.amazon.com\/podcasts\/3f727ec1-de7d-416f-8bdc-31d9a911a09e\/ict-pulse-podcast\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Amazon Music<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stitcher.com\/podcast\/ict-pulse-podcast?refid=stpr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Stitcher<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nOver the past several months, we have been exploring financial technology (fintech) in the Caribbean region, and for the most part, our focus has been on the developments occurring in English-speaking countries. However, with the announcement, in March this year, of a partnership between Mastercard and a fintech company based in Curacao that would benefit the entire region, we questioned whether we had dropped the ball by not paying much attention to the fintech space in the Dutch Caribbean<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Dutch Caribbean, which comprises Aruba, Bonaire Cura\u00e7ao and Sint Maarten, Sint Eustatius and Saba, are part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. As part of one of the most tech-enabled and online countries in Europe, and the frequent commutes that occur between those islands and Holland \u2013 of visitors to the region, and people from the Dutch Caribbean studying and working in Holland \u2013 there could be higher expectations of digital-related conveniences that would be available.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSo, in today\u2019s episode, we sought to pull back the veil on the state of fintech in the Dutch Caribbean region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Introducing our guests<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-full is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"168507\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2023\/06\/ictp-255-exploring-fintech-in-the-dutch-caribbean\/marwan-d-rozier-m-rozier-cropped\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Marwan-D-Rozier-M-Rozier-cropped.jpeg?fit=627%2C640&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"627,640\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"2","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 12 Pro","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1653926559","copyright":"","focal_length":"6","iso":"200","shutter_speed":"0.02","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"Marwan D Rozier (M Rozier) cropped\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"Marwan D Rozier <\/p>\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Marwan-D-Rozier-M-Rozier-cropped.jpeg?fit=294%2C300&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Marwan-D-Rozier-M-Rozier-cropped.jpeg?fit=627%2C640&ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fgd.dfv.mybluehost.me\/.website_c81a1e61\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Marwan-D-Rozier-M-Rozier-cropped.jpeg?resize=300%2C307&ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-168507\" width=\"300\" height=\"307\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Marwan-D-Rozier-M-Rozier-cropped.jpeg?w=627&ssl=1 627w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Marwan-D-Rozier-M-Rozier-cropped.jpeg?resize=294%2C300&ssl=1 294w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Marwan D Rozier <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/marwan-dean-rozier-9366a1112\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Marwan Rozier<\/a><\/strong> is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Girasol Payment Solutions, which is headquartered in Cura\u00e7ao and provides digital payment solutions. A self-made fintech entrepreneur, Marwan has a deep knowledge of technology, payments and financial systems and operations, and is focused on developing cutting-edge solutions that have revolutionised the way payments platform operates and interact, whilst also improving the customer experience, and increasing business profitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\nLaunched in 2016, Girasol Payments Solutions operates in the business-to-business (B2B) space, serving banks, credit unions, along with small and medium enterprises and large corporations.  Earlier this year, it was announced that Girasol Payments Solutions and Mastercard had established a six-year partnership to build the digital payment infrastructure for the Caribbean region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"168505\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/2023\/06\/ictp-255-exploring-fintech-in-the-dutch-caribbean\/emilio-kalmera-e-kalmera\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Emilio-Kalmera-E-Kalmera-e1686082848465.jpg?fit=640%2C645&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"640,645\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"Emilio Kalmera (E Kalmera)\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Emilio-Kalmera-E-Kalmera-e1686082848465.jpg?fit=298%2C300&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Emilio-Kalmera-E-Kalmera-e1686082848465.jpg?fit=1016%2C1024&ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fgd.dfv.mybluehost.me\/.website_c81a1e61\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Emilio-Kalmera-E-Kalmera-1016x1024.jpg?resize=300%2C302&ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-168505\" width=\"300\" height=\"302\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Emillio Kalmera<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/emilio-kalmera-96251b29\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Emilio Kalmera<\/a><\/strong> is widely considered one of the foremost experts on personal financial management and planning on Sint Maarten. His extensive experience and knowledge has been gained through over 20 years of combined study, living, and professional experience in: banking, financial policy advising, board memberships, and investing across the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, Belize, Anguilla, and England, which has fuelled his quest to help individuals achieve their highest levels of success through training and coaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\nEmilio is also an entrepreneur and avid investor. Currently, he is a Senior Financial Policy Advisor for the Government of Sint Maarten, the Managing Director of Nykal Holding and Management Company in Anguilla, a Board Member of the General Pension Fund APS, and both the Managing Director and Head of Training for the Second Chance Recruitment and Training Agency N.V.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Insight into our conversation<\/h2>\n\n\n\nAs one of the top-ranked countries for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/next\/2022\/09\/21\/which-european-country-has-the-best-digital-quality-of-lifehttps:\/www.euronews.com\/next\/2022\/09\/21\/which-european-country-has-the-best-digital-quality-of-life\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">digital quality of life in 2022<\/a>, and the European country with the <a href=\"https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/eurostat\/web\/products-eurostat-news\/w\/DDN-20230228-2\">highest share <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/eurostat\/web\/products-eurostat-news\/w\/DDN-20230228-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">of<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/eurostat\/web\/products-eurostat-news\/w\/DDN-20230228-2\"> internet users<\/a> who bought or ordered goods or services online in 2022, the Kingdom of the Netherlands is a very digital country. It would thus be fair to assume that digital use across the Dutch Caribbean would be somewhat comparable to that of the Netherlands. In other words, individuals and households in Dutch Caribbean countries would be leveraging ICTs and the internet extensively in everyday life, especially payments and financial services.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHowever, Emilio and Marwan explained what in fact is happening on the ground in Sint Maarten and Cura\u00e7ao, in particular, which may be closer to the current state of fintech in the wider Caribbean region. Below are key questions posed to Emilio and Marwan during our conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\" type=\"1\">\n<li>To start, tell us a bit more about yourself.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How would you describe the fintech scene in Cura\u00e7ao\/Sint Maarten?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>  Are there any locally-developed fintech products\/services in Cura\u00e7ao\/Sint Maarten?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How would you describe the wider tech entrepreneurship landscape in Cura\u00e7ao\/Sint Maarten?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What is the biggest challenge that tech entrepreneurs are experiencing in Cura\u00e7ao\/Sint Maarten?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How is the investor landscape and the posture of investors in Cura\u00e7ao and Sint Maarten?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How might there be greater collaboration between tech entrepreneurs in Cura\u00e7ao\/Sint Maarten and the English-speaking Caribbean?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\nDo leave us a comment either here beneath this article, or on our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ICTPulse\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Facebook<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/ict-pulse-consulting-limited\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">LinkedIn<\/a> pages, or via Twitter, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ICTPulse\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">@ICTPulse<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nAlso, if you or a member of your network is interested in joining us for an episode, <\/em><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/fgd.dfv.mybluehost.me\/.website_c81a1e61\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">do get in touch<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nLet\u2019s make it happen!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Select links<\/h2>\n\n\n\nBelow are links to some of the organisations and resources that either were mentioned during the episode or otherwise, might be useful:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/marwan-dean-rozier-9366a1112\/\">Marwan Rozier<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/emilio-kalmera-96251b29\/\">Emilio Kalmera<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.girasolpayments.com\/\">Girasol Payments Solutions<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Loop article, <a href=\"https:\/\/jamaica.loopnews.com\/content\/mastercard-joins-dutch-cbean-firm-offer-more-pos-technologies\">Mastercard joins with Dutch C’bean firm to offer more POS technologies<\/a><\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>ICT Pulse Podcast interview, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ict-pulse.com\/2018\/06\/ictp-011-e-commerce-online-payments-caribbean-luis-santine-cx-pay\/\">ICTP 011: E-commerce and online payments in the Caribbean, with Luis Santine of CX Pay<\/em><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>ICT Pulse Podcast interview, <a href=\"https:\/\/fgd.dfv.mybluehost.me\/.website_c81a1e61\/2022\/06\/ictp-207-tech-entrepreneurship-in-the-french-caribbean\/\">ICTP 207: Tech entrepreneurship in the French Caribbean<\/em><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\nImages credit:  E Kalmera;  M Rozier<\/em><\/em>; M Rozier;  Alesia Kozik (<a href=\"http:\/\/pexels.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Pexels<\/a>);  Nattanan Kanchanaprat (<a href=\"http:\/\/pixabay.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Pixabay<\/a>);  Clay Banks (<a href=\"http:\/\/unsplash.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Unsplash<\/a>)  <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nMusic credit: The Last Word (Oui Ma Ch\u00e9rie), by Andy Narrell<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nPodcast editing support:  Mayra Bonilla Lopez<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With Senior Financial Policy Advisor, Emilio Kalmera, and Founder and CEO of Girasol Payments Solutions, Marwan Rozier, they discussed among other things: the state of the fintech scene in Cura\u00e7ao and Sint Maarten;\u00a0 the wider tech entrepreneurship landscape; and the biggest challenge that tech entrepreneurs in their home countries are experiencing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":168506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[355],"tags":[71,205,358,204,357],"class_list":["post-168502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-podcast","tag-businesses","tag-entrepreneurship-2","tag-financial-technology","tag-innovation-2","tag-interviews","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Featured-Image-%E2%80%93-Fintech-in-the-Dutch-Caribbean.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2iE1G-HPM","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168502"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":168514,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168502\/revisions\/168514"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ict-pulse.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}