Regulatory Alerts2020-01-01
Go-Live Dates for Phase II of the National Financial Switch
The Bank of Zambia mandates all commercial banks to onboard the Mobile Payments Module of Phase II of the National Financial Switch according to a staggered three-group schedule. This module facilitates instant bank-to-bank and wallet-to-wallet transactions, with pilot testing periods scheduled between October and November 2020 followed by mandatory full go-live dates. Banks that fail to comply with the specified deadlines will face penalties in accordance with Section 43 of the National Payment Systems Act.
# BANK of ZAMBIA
## OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY GOVERNOR - OPERATIONS
BOZ/EXEC/DGO/bcps/bp
August 21, 2020
CB Circular No. : 24/2020
To : All Heads of Commercial Banks
## GO-LIVE DATES FOR PHASE TWO OF THE NATIONAL FINANCIAL SWITCH
The Phase II of the National Financial Switch (NFS) project, that is, the Mobile Payments Module is live. It has been live since April 2020 when the Zambia Electronic Clearing House Limited admitted the first participants on the production system. This Module will facilitate for instant payments between the customers of the various participants who will be able to carry out bank-to-bank, wallet-to-bank, bank-to-wallet and wallet-to-wallet transactions.
In this regard, following protracted discussions with all parties, all banks are now required to onboard Phase II of the NFS as per schedule below.
### Phase II – Onboarding Schedule For Banks:
| GROUP 1 | | PILOT | GO LIVE |
|---------|---|-------|---------|
| 1 | Stanbic Bank | 12 October to 30 October 2020 | 31 October 2020 |
| 2 | Atlas Mara Bank | | |
| 3 | Standard Chartered Bank | | |
| 4 | Access Bank | | |
| 5 | First Capital Bank | | |
| GROUP 2 | | PILOT | GO LIVE |
|---------|---|-------|---------|
| 1 | Zanaco Bank | 26 October to 15 November 2020 | 16 November 2020 |
| 2 | First Alliance Bank | | |
| 3 | Indo Zambia Bank | | |
| 4 | United Bank for Africa | | |
| GROUP 3 | | PILOT | GO LIVE |
|---------|---|-------|---------|
| 1 | Absa Bank | 9 November to 29 November 2020 | 30 November 2020 |
| 2 | First National Bank | | |
| 3 | Investrust Bank | | |
| 4 | Eco Bank | | |
| 5 | Zambia Industrial Commercial Bank | | |
...2/-
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CB Circular No. 24/2020 - 2 - August 21, 2020
Failure to meet the above deadlines will attract penalties in line with Section 43 of the National Payment Systems Act.
Kindly be advised accordingly.
Francis Chipimo (PhD)
DEPUTY GOVERNOR – OPERATIONS
cc
Governor
Deputy Governor – Administration
Director – Banking, Currency and Payment Systems
Director – Bank Supervision
Director – Non-Bank Financial Institutions Supervision
General Counsel
Bank Square, Cairo Road, P.O. Box 30080, Lusaka, Zambia Tel:+260-211-399303, 399300, E-mail: dgo@boz.zm. Web: http://www.boz.zm
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