Jamaica will have to “work harder” to rebuild the trust of international merchants who have discontinued online transactions with local customers, de facto information minister Robert Morgan has said.

His comment follows growing complaints about local buyers' inability to make online purchases as several businesses, in a bid to clamp down on fraudulent transactions, have blocked sales.

“Jamaicans need to understand that the actions of some of our countrymen will have impacts on our personal lives… Persons are not able to pay using their credit cards with particular merchants,” said Morgan during Wednesday morning's post-Cabinet pressing briefing at Jamaica House in St Andrew.

“I think as a society we have to work harder to rebuild the trust that people have for us by not promoting, endorsing or engaging in particular activities that may cause other countries and jurisdictions to start looking at us in a particular way,” he added.

He said discussions continue about the challenges surrounding correspondent banking, relisting and what the country can do through CARICOM to address the issues.

The regional bloc is expected to lead discussions to “normalise” the region's international banking relationships following the establishment of a committee.

However, in December, the secretariat conceded that there is little advocacy it can muscle to push member states off a European Union (EU) anti-money laundering blacklist, but rapped developed countries for constantly shifting international benchmarks.

Several CARICOM countries, including Jamaica, The Bahamas and Barbados, were in 2020 blacklisted by the EU, which accused them of being too soft on money laundering.