This is the last of a three-part series on the importance of interoperability in the payments space. In the first article we looked at the early history of electronic payments and how interoperability played a key role in the success of credit cards and ATMs. In the previous article we will take a closer look
Ecobank The Pan-African bank has announced the appointment of MFS Africa as Digital payment partner enabling cross-platform payment services for Ecobank account holders. The partnership allows Ecobank customers to send and receive money to and from over 170 million mobile money users through an integration with MFS Africa that covers all Telcos in the MFS
Signalling the pace at which the Kingdom of Bahrain is embracing the new era of open banking, in just one week the Kingdom’s regulator, the Central Bank of Bahrain, has mandated open banking adoption for Bahraini retail banks that provide online banking services to their customers and provided an in-principle confirmation to the first domestic
National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) today published a policy paper titled ‘Review of the National Payment System Act 78 of 1998’ for public comment. A national payment system (NPS) is a set of arrangements and infrastructures that enables consumers, businesses and other entities to transfer funds to one another. A number
The payments industry faces immense pressure on multiple fronts. Waves of technological advances, regulatory scrutiny, and changes in consumer and client behaviours and expectations, are having a significant impact on what was once a staid and relatively unchanging business. Consumers want their retail experience to be replicated in the banking world; this means instant, frictionless
First National Bank (FNB), a division of FirstRand Bank Limited, has announced its partnership with Selpal, a South African FinTech company that operates specifically in the township and informal economy, or the “Unseen Economy”. Michael Vacy-Lyle, CEO of FNB Business explains that “with 50% of South Africa’s urban population living in townships, the ecosystem supporting
The European Investment Bank has released its new study: ‘Banking in Africa: Delivering on Financial Inclusion, Supporting Financial Stability’. In its fourth edition, this economic report analyses recent development in the African banking sectors, including through a survey of African banking groups, addresses structural issues and investment opportunities for the continent and proposes policy options
Papersoft and Integrated Biometrics, in partnership with the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS), are now part of the Financial Inclusion Strategy in Nigeria. This program aims to enroll 70 million unbanked individuals into Nigeria’s formal financial services sector by 2020. Since 2012, Nigeria has been committed to ensuring that most of its population has access
Financial services company, Discovery, has announced details of its new banking offering. Described as the world’s first behavioural bank, the fully digital bank leverages Discovery’s Shared-Value model, and can be joined from March 2019 by anyone with a smart phone. “Discovery Bank presents the latest manifestation of our core purpose of making people healthier and
At its flagship event in Sydney, Sibos, SWIFT introduced several new products and services that will help its customers defend themselves against cyber fraud. Payment Controls, an intelligent new in-network solution to combat fraudulent payments, will help strengthen banks’ existing security by mitigating fraud risk in real-time. The alerting and reporting service may be set
