Regulatory Alerts2020-01-01
Go-Live Dates for Phase Two of the National Financial Switch
The Bank of Zambia requires all commercial banks to onboard the Mobile Payments Module of Phase Two of the National Financial Switch according to a staggered schedule. The implementation timeline spans October and November 2020, assigning specific pilot and go-live dates to three distinct banking groups. Failure to meet these deadlines will trigger penalties under Section 43 of the National Payment Systems Act, enabling instant bank-to-bank and wallet transactions.
[LOGO] 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 |
| 2 | Atlas Mara Bank | |
| 3 | Standard Chartered Bank | |
| 4 | Access Bank | |
| 5 | First Capital Bank | |
| GROUP 2 | ||
| 1 | Zanaco Bank | 26 October to 15 November 2020 |
| 2 | First Alliance Bank | |
| 3 | Indo Zambia Bank | |
| 4 | United Bank for Africa | |
| GROUP 3 | ||
| 1 | Absa Bank | 9 November to 29 November 2020 |
| 2 | First National Bank | |
| 3 | Investrust Bank | |
| 4 | Eco Bank | |
| 5 | Zambia Industrial Commercial Bank |
...2/-
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
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.
[Signature]
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