Caribbean Tech News Brief

Eight stories from across the Caribbean technology landscape — AI, fintech, cyber, connectivity, digital government, and the ecosystem building its own future.

AI • GOVERNMENT

iGovTT’s Anansi Becomes T&T’s First National AI Government Assistant

Trinidad and Tobago officially entered the AI-powered government services era on August 5, 2025, when iGovTT launched Anansi — a national digital assistant that connects 32 government ministries, departments, and agencies into a single intelligent platform. Built almost entirely in-house by iGovTT’s software team, Anansi is trained on over 7,000 frequently asked questions and is accessible 24/7 at anansi.tt. Using large language models and natural language processing, it understands questions asked in plain language rather than menu clicks. The platform follows iGovTT’s earlier ttGovChat service, which was already handling over 25,000 interactions per month but operated in silos across individual ministries. Of the over 600 citizens who participated in the pre-launch survey, 88% gave positive feedback and said they would use the system again. Minister of Public Administration Dominic Smith noted that the achievement “speaks to the wealth of talent and human capital that we have,” underlining that the system was built locally, for local needs, by Trinidadian developers.

FINTECH • PAYMENTS

WiPay Group Unveils Bold Expansion at WiDay 2025

At WiDay 2025 on December 4 in Port of Spain — the first such event held in T&T this decade — WiPay Group CEO Aldwyn Wayne laid out an ambitious expansion of the company’s services well beyond payment processing. The rebranded WiPay Group is rolling out WiTravel (a travel booking platform), WiLoan (a lending service), and Nimble, a mobile virtual network operator in partnership with TSTT for voice and data services. Underpinning it all is the Colour app, which allows merchants to accept card payments directly via mobile phone. Wayne also revealed that the National Payment and Innovation Company — which replaced the TT International Finance Centre — is powered by WiPay’s GovPay solution, and that the company’s Caribbean Settlement Network is navigating regional regulatory approvals. After facing limited government interest locally post-2018, WiPay expanded into Jamaica and Grenada during COVID-19 lockdowns before returning to T&T with renewed momentum. The company now processes over $500 million in transactions annually.

CONNECTIVITY • TELECOM

Liberty Caribbean Calls for Shift from Connectivity to Competitiveness at CANTO Connect 2026

Liberty Caribbean — operators of Flow, Liberty Business, and BTC — served as Diamond Sponsor of CANTO Connect 2026, the Caribbean’s major telecommunications and ICT conference, held February 1–3 at the Hyatt Regency in Port of Spain. Speaking on behalf of the company, Simone Martin-Sulgan, VP and General Manager of Flow Trinidad & Tobago, articulated a shift in industry framing that resonated across the gathering: “The work of laying fibre and lighting towers is done; connectivity is now our foundation. The real task before us is to translate that foundation into innovation, productivity and prosperity for our people.” Liberty Caribbean also served as Gold-Level Partner of the Trinidad and Tobago Internet Governance Forum in February 2026, themed “The Innovation Paradox — Balancing Progress with Responsibility and Resilience.” The company is addressing the digital divide across the region through its JUMP programme, which focuses on providing access, devices, and digital skills to underserved communities.

CYBERSECURITY

AI Is Now Weaponising Phishing in the Caribbean — Defenders Are Struggling to Keep Up

A stark warning from cybersecurity experts is circulating across the Caribbean in 2026: AI has eliminated the traditional red flags of phishing attacks. Bad grammar, awkward phrasing, and suspicious formatting — the cues that employee training programmes have relied on for years — are no longer reliable indicators. Obika Gellineau of Fujitsu Caribbean, speaking on the ICT Pulse podcast in April 2026, noted that phishing lures are now being crafted in perfect local dialects and Patois, making detection significantly harder for regional employees and security teams. The development compounds an already alarming regional statistic: only 13% of leaders in Latin America and the Caribbean have high confidence in their nation’s ability to protect critical infrastructure, according to recent regional surveys. Attackers are also tailoring ransomware demands to match the limited budgets of smaller Caribbean public sector organisations, making recovery negotiations more complex. Gellineau’s recommendation is that the focus must shift from prevention to resilience — accepting that breaches will occur and prioritising speed and completeness of recovery.

DIGITAL GOVERNMENT • T&T

T&T Receives €3 Million EU-CAF Grant for e-ID, Data Centre, and Interoperability Platform

 The Government of Trinidad and Tobago signed a landmark €3 million (TTD 23 million) technical assistance grant agreement on February 4, 2025, with the European Union — through the Latin America and Caribbean Investment Facility — and the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF). The grant funds three critical components of T&T’s digital public infrastructure: a national electronic identity (e-ID) system, a public data interoperability platform linking government agencies, and the construction of a dedicated Tier-4 government data centre. The signing was attended by Minister of Digital Transformation Hassel Bacchus, Minister of Finance Colm Imbert, and senior representatives of the EU and CAF. CAF Executive Vice President Gianpiero Leoncini described the initiative as having “potential to empower citizens and promote regional integration” across CARICOM. The grant complements the IDB’s separately approved programme to accelerate T&T’s digital transformation, which also includes government cloud infrastructure and institutional strengthening for selected public agencies.

FINTECH • PAYMENTS

Mastercard Agent Pay Confirmed for Caribbean Rollout in 2026

 Mastercard has confirmed that Agent Pay — its AI-powered autonomous payments programme — will roll out across Latin America and the Caribbean in 2026. Agent Pay enables AI agents to browse, select, and complete purchases on behalf of consumers in real time, without requiring active user participation at the point of transaction. The announcement has significant implications for Caribbean merchants, financial institutions, and payment processors, which will need to integrate with agentic commerce frameworks to capture transactions that traditional checkout flows will not reach. The rollout comes as Mastercard’s own research found that 93% of T&T SMEs already accepting digital payments consider them essential or very important to their business success, and 92% say they save time and money through digital payment use. A separate Mastercard partnership with the T&T International Financial Centre is already driving financial inclusion and digital transformation readiness across the country. The Caribbean fintech market, valued at approximately $1.2 billion in 2025, is projected to reach $2.8 billion by 2030.

ECOSYSTEM • COMMUNITY

Caribbean Tech Week 2026 Signals a Community Building Its Own Future

 The inaugural Caribbean Tech Week, convened in February 2026 by SiliconCaribe, brought together technology meetups, mixers, AI roundtables, fintech deep dives, blockchain sessions, and entrepreneur gatherings across multiple territories simultaneously — including events in Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Barbados, St. Lucia, and New York. In Port of Spain, events included ‘Built in Trinidad — Blockchain, AI & Innovation’ at The Worx Coworking Space, and the Fintech Founder’s Lime at Toucan Café. SiliconCaribe founder Ingrid Riley described the week as “the physical manifestation” of the platform’s decade-long mission to amplify Caribbean tech stories — “turning headlines into handshakes and content and community into collaboration for business and capital.” The event was community-powered and locally hosted across territories, connected by a shared narrative. It signals a maturing ecosystem that no longer needs external validation to convene, invest, and build — one that is increasingly capable of generating its own momentum.

DIGITAL BANKING • REGION

Caribbean Banks Accelerate Digital Race as Wallet Adoption Jumps 45%

 Digital wallet adoption across the Caribbean grew 45% year-over-year in 2024, driven by younger demographics and the behavioural changes that took hold during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data, compiled by Hope Research Group, reflects a region in which 52% of adults have now used a mobile banking app — up from 31% in 2020 — and 68% have made at least one digital payment in the past 12 months. Leading Caribbean banks are responding with significant infrastructure investment. Republic Bank has committed over $50 million to digital infrastructure enabling real-time payments. Scotiabank Caribbean has launched a unified digital platform across 23 markets with over 2 million app downloads. CIBC FirstCaribbean has introduced biometric authentication and AI-powered customer service. NCB Jamaica is now capturing 60% of transactions via app and online channels. Regulatory sandboxes in Jamaica and Barbados are enabling fintech challengers to test digital-only banking models. Total venture investment in Caribbean fintech reached $85 million in 2024, with WiPay closing a $20 million Series B and LYNK raising $12 million in a Series A.