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Citizens and businesses in Montserrat and across the other Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) member states are to benefit from a strategy which aims to address gaps in how they access and use financial services across the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU). The ECCB has partnered with the United Nations Capital Development Fund to prepare the draft ECCU Financial Inclusion and Literacy Strategy. It focuses on building awareness and removing access barriers, particularly for under-served groups such as micro-entrepreneurs. Shanette Shaw-Archibald, Project and Technical Assistance in the Governor’s Office, explains that at its core, the strategy is really about making everyday financial life easier for individuals and businesses, explaining that individuals would see benefits such as improved access to credit, savings, and even investment opportunities, and digital financial payment tools. Shaw-Archibald said businesses, on the other hand, would see benefits such as better support to go digital, better support or even access to financing, and to grow their business with confidence. The Project and Technical Assistance in the Governor’s Office said, overall, the strategy is really about helping people to feel more confident and comfortable while using financial services and understanding and building trust with the financial system. The ECCB has been working with key groups across the ECCU to ensure the Financial Inclusion and Literacy Strategy meets the needs of the people of the currency union. Shaw-Archibald shared that the strategy was shaped by considering all stakeholders, from consumers to fintech companies and financial institutions, to build it. She stated that from the beginning, the strategy was shaped around listening to the people that it’s about to serve. Shaw-Archibald said that among others, they also met with PennyPinch in St. Lucia and Serra in Montserrat because they wanted to make sure that their feedback and their real-life experiences really shape and guide how the bank would fill the gaps to really resolve the problems for the people of the currency union. The strategy will work alongside other ECCB efforts, such as the establishment of the Office of Financial Conduct and Inclusion, which is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2026, and the introduction of basic bank accounts with no maintenance fees to improve accessibility. Meantime, in related news, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Montserrat and other Small Island Developing States (SIDS) face significant financing barriers due to limited collateral, high transaction costs, and extreme vulnerability to climate-related shocks. It is against this background that on the most recent episode of ECCB Connects, Shana Derrick, Communication Officer (Ag) in the Corporate Relations Department, discussed with the CEO of the Eastern Caribbean Partial Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECPCGC), Carmen Gomez-Trigg, about how this entity is changing the financial landscape to help turn business potential into real opportunity across the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union. Gomez-Trigg uses statistics to demonstrate the ECPCGC’s pivotal role for small businesses in the region. She quoted that from December 2025, they have done over 300 loans to a loan value of 30 million EC dollars across the six islands, noting it as a valuable achievement, because it means that people, some of whom would not normally have access to loans at all, because they didn’t have the collateral or other requirements, are now able to get funding to grow their businesses. The CEO of the ECPCGC explained that they are meeting clients where they are, with five offerings to facilitate access to financing. Traditional commercial banking remains a primary source; these firms increasingly rely on multilateral development support and innovative “blue” or “green” finance. Blue finance is an emerging focus on sustainable ocean economies where investment is often driven by “trusted individual” networks. Green finance refers to investments, loans, and financial instruments (like green bonds) designed to support environmentally sustainable projects. The ECPCGC continues to work to fill the financing gap for small and medium enterprises across the wider ECCU.