ESWATINI PAYMENT SWITCH FAST PAYMENTS: OTHER BANKS HAVE JAN 2025 DEADLINE TO COME ONBOARD

EZULWINI - Participation in fast payments has been mandated for all payment service providers that offer local payments.

The remaining participants are expected to offer fast payment services by the end of January 2025. The Central Bank of Eswatini Governor, Dr Phil Mnisi, shared that Eswatini currently has eight participants that have been actively working towards integration to the switch. He said given the varying existing systems, infrastructural arrangements and resource distribution, the integration has not been at the same level across the industry.He said this means that some of the participants will not be ready at the initial launch but will onboard to Fast payments within a few months of the launch.

“We look forward to having the other participants onboard with the Fast Payments Module of the Switch and enabling this seamless transacting and interoperability within the payment ecosystem where both the banks and the non-banks participate on a level playing field,” he said. Captains of the different banks assured the nation that their institutions will ensure seamless implementation of the fast payments module.

Hurdles

Nozizwe Mulela, the EswatiniBank Managing Director (MD), said through the piloting stage they realised the effectiveness of the project. Mulela assured the nation that a lot of work has been done to reach this stage where the module goes live. She said through this Fast Payment, customers will no longer wait for hours to see their transactions going through, and they will not feel any hassle. Mulela said this was, of course, a good move for the country, as it will now have its own payment switch system, other than to rely on neighbouring countries.
She said such shows the improvement in the country’s financial service sector.

Mulela added that as banks, they are working on any hurdles that may arise, and they are optimistic that by the end of the first quarter next year, everything will be flowing.
Nedbank Eswatini Managing Director (MD) Fikile Nkosi said her bank is really excited about this initiative. She said the launch of the project was long overdue, as it was high time they did things for the benefit of emaSwati. “There is no more paying other countries, but the money will now be circulating in Eswatini, and we will be paying each other instantly,” she said.
FNB Eswatini’s Head of Payments, Zilindile Friedman, said as a bank they are cognisant of the timelines placed for them to come onboard, and they will surely do everything possible to meet the deadlines.

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