How NIDS coming in January 2018 means Electronic Transactions with GOJ to become standard

Say goodbye to carrying all those ID's around, be they Driver's License, Voter's ID or Jamaican Passport.

NIDS (National Identification System) is going live in January 2018 as reported in the article “AML-CFT Conference National ID System For January 2018”, Published Monday October 10, 2016 by Neville Graham, The Jamaica Gleaner.

The announcement was made by Prime Minister Andrew Holness at the opening session of the 5th annual Anti-Money Laundering /Counter-Financing of Terrorism conference on Monday October 10, 2016 in New Kingston. The NIDS would use advanced technology to eliminate the problems inherent in transacting legitimate business in Jamaica.

The NIDS is meant to replace all those cards that I have to essentially walk around with:

1.      NIS (National Insurance System)

2.      TRN (Tax Registration Number)

3.      National Voter’s ID

4.      Passport

5.      Driver’s License

6.      JADEP Health Cards

It also has the same benefits for both Public and Private Sectors:

1.      Registration of births and deaths

2.      Criminal records

3.      Traffic ticketing

4.      Tax compliance

5.      Records management

6.      Road and drivers licensing

7.      Travel within CARICOM

NIDS would be compliant with AML/CFT requirements, but within a shortened timeline, as NIDS was originally set for 2020 as noted in my blog article entitled “Why the NIDS coming in 2020 and How to replace your Stolen Driver's License and National”.

Combined with a move towards Electronic Transactions with the GOJ (Government of Jamaica) as pointed out in my blog article entitled “How Electronic Transactions in Jamaica can eliminate Hidden Economy via Universal Consumption Taxation”, it'll make money laundering very hard to commit in Jamaica indeed.