Banking Circular No. 2 of 2023 - Publishing of the Domestic High Value Payments ISO 20022 Message Standards

Haile Selassie Ave P.O. Box 60000 - 00200 Nairobi, Kenva Telephone: 2860000, Fax: 3340192 March 22, 2023 BANKING CIRCULAR No. 2 OF 2023 TO: ALL CHIEF EXECUTIVES OF COMMERCIAL BANKS AND MICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONS PUBLISHING OF THE DOMESTIC HIGH VALUE PAYMENTS (KEPSS) ISO 20022 MESSAGE STANDARDS The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), in collaboration with the Kenya's financial industry, is embarking on migrating the Kenya Payment and Settlement System (KEPSS) to the ISO 20022 Standards. KEPSS is Kenya's payment system for high-value and time-critical domestic payments. This migration is being undertaken as part of implementing the National Payment Strategy 2022

• 2025 and to modernise the National Payments System (NPS) to world class standards. The adoption of ISO 20022 messages will transform exchange of financial messages through enhanced operational efficiency and deliver richer usable data for analytics. CBK in consultation with the Kenya's financial industry has developed the ISO 20022 Standards that will define how domestic payments will be processed and settled through the KEPSS.

The KEPSS ISO 20022 message Standards are now published and available on the CBK MyStandard SWIFT Portal as of March 22, 2023. The Usage guidelines and Readiness portal can be accessed using the link https://www.swift.com/standards/mystandards. Financial institutions are required to adopt the Standards and Usage Guidelines in readiness for the KEPSS migration. CBK will continue to work closely with financial institutions to ensure a smooth migration to ISO 20022 standards. We look forward to working with the industry to deliver a more innovative, consistent, and resilient messaging standard for the Kenyan industry.

For enquiries, kindly email swift@centralbank.go.ke or contact CBK SWIFT Secretariat on 020 2863111/3122/3126/1533/3138.

Yours faithfully,

EGANZ DIRECTOR, BANKING AND PAYMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT