Section One
Program Overview
The SAKALA ID+Payment Card Program is a three-phase initiative to deploy combined biometric identity and prepaid payment cards across the Caribbean, starting with a Haiti pilot, scaling to Jamaica national coverage, and expanding across CARICOM member states.
The program replicates the proven Nigeria-NIMC-Mastercard model (13M cards issued since 2013) adapted for Caribbean infrastructure, CBDC integration (JAM-DEX), and SAKALA's existing franchise enrollment network.
Phased Rollout
| Phase | Geography | Cards | Sites | Timeline | Budget Range |
|---|
| Phase 1: Pilot |
Haiti (10 SAKALA sites) |
3,440 |
10 |
Months 1-6 |
$39,146-102,442 |
| Phase 2: National |
Haiti (all 344 sites) + Jamaica |
500,000 |
344+ |
Months 7-24 |
$4.8-12.9M |
| Phase 3: CARICOM |
Jamaica, T&T, Guyana, Bahamas, OECS |
5,000,000+ |
2,000+ |
Months 25-60 |
$48-130M |
| Total Program Budget (5 Years) |
|
$53-143M |
Section Two
Phase 1 Budget: Haiti Pilot
The pilot deploys 3,440 ID+payment cards across 10 major SAKALA franchise sites. This phase validates enrollment workflows, card functionality, MonCash/CAPSS integration, and merchant acceptance before national scale.
3,440
Cards Issued
10
Enrollment Sites
25
Trained Staff
6 mo
Duration
| Line Item | Unit Cost | Quantity | Low Estimate | High Estimate |
|---|
| Smart cards (NFC + chip, ISO 14443 compliant) |
$3-5 |
3,440 |
$10,320 |
$17,200 |
| Biometric enrollment stations (fingerprint + photo capture, laptop + scanner + camera kit) |
$500-2,000 |
10 |
$5,000 |
$20,000 |
| Card personalization / printing (on-site or regional print center) |
$0.50-2.00 |
3,440 |
$1,720 |
$6,880 |
| Software platform (enrollment app, wallet integration, de-duplication engine) |
Lump sum |
1 |
$10,000 |
$25,000 |
| Staff training (enrollment procedures, biometric capture, data security, fraud prevention) |
Lump sum |
25 youth |
$2,000 |
$5,000 |
| MonCash / CAPSS integration (API development, testing, settlement configuration) |
Lump sum |
1 |
$5,000 |
$15,000 |
| Subtotal (Direct Costs) |
$34,040 |
$89,080 |
| Contingency (15%) |
|
|
$5,106 |
$13,362 |
| TOTAL PHASE 1 |
$39,146 |
$102,442 |
Key insight: Phase 1 is deliberately small. Under $103K at the high end. This is not a budget that requires institutional approval cycles or multi-year grant timelines. A single angel investor, a Mastercard Foundation micro-grant, or IDB Lab seed funding covers the entire pilot. The point of Phase 1 is to generate data... enrollment rates, transaction volumes, fraud rates, user satisfaction... that justifies Phase 2 institutional funding.
Phase 1 Success Metrics
| Metric | Target | Measurement |
|---|
| Cards issued | 3,440 (100%) | Enrollment records |
| Active cards (used within 30 days) | >70% | Transaction logs |
| Merchant acceptance (pilot sites) | 10/10 sites | POS activation records |
| Duplicate/fraud rate | <0.5% | Biometric de-duplication |
| MonCash interop | Functional | Cross-platform transfer test |
| Average transactions per card/month | >4 | Network data |
| Enrollment time per person | <15 min | Site observation |
Section Three
Phase 2 Budget: Haiti National + Jamaica
Phase 2 scales from 10 pilot sites to all 344 SAKALA franchise locations in Haiti and initiates Jamaica deployment in partnership with NIRA. Target: 500,000 cards issued across both countries within 18 months.
| Line Item | Unit Cost | Quantity | Low Estimate | High Estimate |
|---|
| Smart cards (NFC + chip) |
$2.50-4.00 |
500,000 |
$1,250,000 |
$2,000,000 |
| Biometric enrollment stations (334 additional sites) |
$500-1,500 |
334 |
$167,000 |
$501,000 |
| Card personalization centers (regional print hubs, 4 locations) |
$25,000-75,000 |
4 |
$100,000 |
$300,000 |
| Software platform (scale, multi-site dashboard, analytics, NIRA integration) |
Lump sum |
1 |
$200,000 |
$500,000 |
| POS terminals (NFC readers at all sites + early merchant network) |
$50-150 |
1,000 |
$50,000 |
$150,000 |
| Staff training (3,440 youth across all sites) |
$50-100/person |
3,440 |
$172,000 |
$344,000 |
| CAPSS cross-border integration (BOJ partnership, currency conversion, settlement) |
Lump sum |
1 |
$150,000 |
$400,000 |
| Jamaica NIRA integration (ID standard alignment, data sharing protocols) |
Lump sum |
1 |
$100,000 |
$250,000 |
| Security audit & PCI DSS compliance |
Lump sum |
1 |
$75,000 |
$200,000 |
| Operations & management (18 months, team of 8-12) |
$150K-300K/year |
1.5 years |
$225,000 |
$450,000 |
| Marketing & community outreach |
Lump sum |
1 |
$50,000 |
$150,000 |
| Subtotal (Direct Costs) |
$2,539,000 |
$5,245,000 |
| Jamaica enrollment infrastructure (separate from SAKALA sites, NIRA-managed) |
Lump sum |
1 |
$1,000,000 |
$3,000,000 |
| Jamaica card production (200K cards) |
$2.50-4.00 |
200,000 |
$500,000 |
$800,000 |
| Subtotal (Haiti + Jamaica) |
$4,039,000 |
$9,045,000 |
| Contingency (20%) |
|
|
$807,800 |
$1,809,000 |
| TOTAL PHASE 2 |
$4,846,800 |
$10,854,000 |
Volume economics: Card unit cost drops from $3-5 (Phase 1) to $2.50-4.00 (Phase 2) at 500K volume. Enrollment station cost drops as SAKALA sites already have power, space, and trained staff. Software is a one-time build with marginal per-site deployment cost. The per-card fully loaded cost (including infrastructure, training, software, compliance) falls from ~$11-30 in Phase 1 to ~$9.70-21.70 in Phase 2.
Section Four
Phase 3 Budget: CARICOM Expansion
Phase 3 extends the platform across CARICOM member states. Budgets are estimates based on Phase 2 unit economics, adjusted for country-specific infrastructure costs.
| Country / Region | Target Cards | Enrollment Sites | Estimated Cost | Key Partner |
|---|
| Jamaica (full national) |
1,500,000 |
500+ |
$12-30M |
NIRA, BOJ |
| Trinidad & Tobago |
800,000 |
200+ |
$8-20M |
National ID authority |
| Guyana |
500,000 |
150+ |
$5-13M |
Bank of Guyana |
| Bahamas |
250,000 |
80+ |
$3-7M |
Central Bank (Sand Dollar) |
| OECS states (6 countries) |
400,000 |
120+ |
$5-12M |
ECCB (DCash) |
| Suriname + Belize |
350,000 |
100+ |
$4-10M |
National ID authorities |
| Haiti (additional coverage) |
1,200,000 |
600+ |
$10-25M |
SAKALA network expansion |
| CAPSS cross-border platform |
N/A |
N/A |
$1-3M |
All CARICOM central banks |
| CARICOM Total |
5,000,000+ |
1,750+ |
$48-130M |
|
Per-card economics at scale: At 5M cards, fully loaded cost (card + enrollment + infrastructure + compliance) drops to approximately $9.60-26.00 per card. Compare to Nigeria's NIMC-Mastercard program at approximately $3-7 per card at 13M scale. CARICOM's smaller market and island geography raises per-unit costs, but the revenue per card is higher due to remittance interchange and CBDC integration value.
Section Five
Funding Sources
The program is structured to layer multiple funding sources across phases, with each phase de-risking the next. Phase 1 requires only seed funding. Phase 2 and 3 attract institutional capital based on Phase 1 data.
Phase 1 Funding (Seed: $39K-102K)
IDB Lab
$50-100K
Digital innovation grants for LAC. Covers full Phase 1.
Mastercard Foundation
$50-250K
Young Africa Works program. Financial inclusion focus.
Angel / Impact
$50-100K
Single impact investor covers entire pilot.
Phase 2 Funding (Institutional: $4.8-12.9M)
IDB Digital Infrastructure
$2-5M
Digital government and financial inclusion grants for Haiti/Jamaica.
Caribbean Development Bank
$1-3M
Regional financial inclusion mandate. Co-finances with IDB.
EU Global Gateway
$1-3M
Digital connectivity pillar. Caribbean a priority region.
Green Climate Fund
$500K-2M
Climate resilience via digital financial inclusion. Post-disaster payments.
Bank of Jamaica
$500K-1M
JAM-DEX integration co-investment. CBDC adoption mandate.
Card Network Co-Investment
$500K-2M
Mastercard or Visa market entry investment. POS + card co-funding.
Phase 3 Funding (Scale: $48-130M)
| Source | Estimated Contribution | Mechanism |
|---|
| CARICOM governments (per-country) | $20-50M (aggregate) | National ID program budgets, co-financed with MDBs |
| IDB / World Bank | $10-30M | Sovereign lending for digital infrastructure |
| Card network partner | $5-15M | Market entry investment, POS deployment, co-branding |
| EU / bilateral donors | $5-15M | Financial inclusion ODA |
| Program revenue (interchange) | $3-10M | Self-funding from Phase 2 transaction volumes |
| Private sector (fintech partnerships) | $5-10M | Equity, revenue sharing, white-label licensing |
Section Six
Revenue Model
The program generates revenue from three streams, reaching self-sustaining operations by Phase 2 Year 2.
| Revenue Stream | Phase 1 (Annual) | Phase 2 (Annual) | Phase 3 (Annual) |
|---|
| Interchange fees (1.5-2.5% domestic, 2.5-3.5% cross-border) |
$5K-15K |
$2-6M |
$15-40M |
| Merchant acquiring fees (per-merchant monthly + per-transaction) |
$1K-3K |
$200K-600K |
$2-5M |
| Government subsidies (per-card enrollment fee from ID program budget) |
$0 |
$500K-2M |
$5-15M |
| Remittance corridor revenue (spread on FX conversion) |
$2K-8K |
$1-4M |
$8-20M |
| Total Annual Revenue |
$8K-26K |
$3.7-12.6M |
$30-80M |
Break-even analysis: Phase 2 annual revenue ($3.7-12.6M) exceeds Phase 2 annual operating costs (~$2-4M) by Year 2. The program becomes self-sustaining before Phase 3 begins. Phase 3 expansion is funded significantly from Phase 2 revenue plus sovereign co-investment.
Section Seven
Return on Investment
The ID+payment card program generates returns at three levels: direct financial returns for program stakeholders, macroeconomic returns for governments, and social returns for cardholders.
Financial ROI
| Metric | Phase 1 | Phase 2 | Phase 3 |
|---|
| Investment | $39-102K | $4.8-12.9M | $48-130M |
| Annual revenue (at maturity) | $8-26K | $3.7-12.6M | $30-80M |
| Payback period | 3-5 years | 1.5-3 years | 2-4 years |
Macroeconomic ROI
- Financial inclusion → formal economy: Every informal transaction that moves onto card rails becomes visible to tax authorities. Haiti's current tax-to-GDP ratio is 5.6% (compared to Jamaica's 27%). Even a 2-point increase from formalization = $360M/year in additional government revenue.
- Remittance efficiency: Reducing transfer fees from 5-10% to 1-3% on $4.1B = $80-290M/year returned to Haitian households.
- Financial identity → credit access: Transaction history on cards creates credit scores for 9.4M currently un-scorable Haitians. Microfinance disbursement via card reduces default monitoring costs.
- Disaster resilience: Post-hurricane or earthquake, card-based aid disbursement is 60-80% faster and more accountable than cash distribution.
Section Eight
The Ask
We are seeking seed funding for Phase 1 ($39,146-$102,442) to execute the Haiti pilot across 10 SAKALA franchise sites, issuing 3,440 ID+payment cards and generating the enrollment, transaction, and fraud data needed to justify Phase 2 institutional funding.
Phase 1 is the proof point. Under $103K buys the data that unlocks $5-13M in institutional funding for Phase 2. Phase 2 revenue funds Phase 3. The entire $53-143M, 5-year, 5-million-card program starts with a single pilot that costs less than a house.
Use of Funds (Phase 1)
| Category | % of Budget | Amount |
|---|
| Hardware (cards + stations) | 45% | $17,040-44,080 |
| Software & integration | 30% | $15,000-40,000 |
| Training & operations | 10% | $2,000-5,000 |
| Contingency | 15% | $5,106-13,362 |
Contacts
| Role | Name | Organization |
|---|
| Program Architect / Analytics | Wesley Bertil | BARSS LLC |
| Enrollment Infrastructure | Daniel Tillias | SAKALA International |