Regulatory Alerts2023-01-01
National Payment Systems Directives on Electronic Money Issuance, 2023
The Bank of Zambia has issued the National Payment Systems Directives on Electronic Money Issuance, 2023, which replace the 2018 regulations and establish a comprehensive licensing and operational framework for e-money institutions. The directives mandate strict capital adequacy standards, requiring institutions to maintain continuing capital equal to at least two percent of outstanding e-money liabilities while ring-fencing all customer funds in approved holding or pool accounts to prevent co-mingling or use as collateral. Additionally, the rules introduce a risk-based tiered KYC system with prescribed transaction limits, enforce daily reconciliation and pre-launch inspections, and detail procedures for handling unclaimed funds, license suspension, and insolvency protections.