BANQUE CENTRALE DU CONGO

LE GOUVERNEUR

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INSTRUCTION N°....58......RELATIVE A L'INTEROPÉRABILITÉ DES SYSTEMES DE PAIEMENT MONETIQUE ET A LA PARTICIPATION AU SWITCH MONETIQUE NATIONAL

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The Central Bank of Congo,

Having regard to the Organic Law No. 18/027 of December 13, 2018, on the organization and functioning of the Central Bank of Congo, specifically Articles 8 paragraph 2 point 6 and 11;

Having regard to Law No. 18/019 of July 9, 2018, on payment and securities settlement systems, specifically Articles 53, 108, 110, and 112;

Having regard to Law No. 22/069 of December 27, 2022, on the activity and supervision of credit institutions;

Having regard to Law No. 22/068 of December 27, 2022, on the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction;

Considering the need, on the one hand, to promote the deepening and development of the financial system and the integration of the national economy in terms of payments, and on the other hand, to resolve the issue of fragmentation of payment markets and contribute to the implementation of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy 2023-2028;

Enacts the following provisions:

TITLE I: GENERAL PROVISIONS

Chapter 1: Object and Scope of Application

Article 1:

This Instruction aims to define the rules regarding the interoperability of card payments or any other electronic payment instrument in the Democratic Republic of Congo and participation in the National Monetary Switch.

Article 2:

This Instruction applies to the following institutions, hereinafter referred to as "regulated entities":

• credit institutions and financial societies offering payment services as defined in Article 168 of Law No. 22/069 of December 27, 2022, on the activity and supervision of credit institutions;
• the financial services of the Post;
• operators of monetary payment systems authorized by the Central Bank of Congo;
• aggregators;
• any other institution designated by the Central Bank of Congo.

It also applies to the entity managing the National Monetary Switch.

The provisions of Article 8 of this Instruction also apply to operators of regional or international payment systems.

Chapter 2: Definitions

Article 3:

For the purposes of this Instruction, the words, acronyms, and expressions below, used indifferently in the singular or plural, are understood as follows:

• acceptor: party that has entered into an agreement with an acquirer to accept electronic money in exchange for a good or service rendered;

• acquirer: financial institution that makes acquisition channels available to the acceptor to perform card payments or any other electronic fund transfer method;

• API (Application Programming Interface): software interface that allows connecting a software or service to another to exchange data and payment functionalities;

• settlement account: account opened by a participant with the Central Bank of Congo and used for settling transactions in the SAREC system;

• issuer: credit institution or financial society that provides users with electronic payment instruments, enabling payments and other associated services;

• EMV: Europay Visa Mastercard;

• Manager: entity managing the National Monetary Switch;

• electronic payment instrument: any device that enables payments by electronic or digital means;

• interoperability: property of the exchange rules of two networks to be compatible with each other, so as to exchange data or operations with one another;

• electronic money: monetary value that is:

  • loaded electronically and representing a claim on the issuer;
  • issued against the remittance of funds for payment operations;
  • accepted by a natural or legal person other than the issuer of the electronic money.

• OHADA: Organisation for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa;

• participant: regulated entity that connects to the National Monetary Switch;

• PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry-Data Security Standard): data security standard of the payment card industry, developed by the main international card associations;

• SAREC: Automated Settlement System of Congo;

• monetary payment system: system governed by standardized formal procedures and common rules for the processing and clearing of monetary operations.

Chapter 3: Interoperability of Monetary Payment Systems

Article 4:

Any electronic payment instrument issued by a regulated entity must be accepted for payment by all regulated entities.

Any payment service platform set up by a regulated entity must be interoperable with those of all regulated entities.

Interoperability is organized around a payment system managed by a third party to which the regulated entities referred to in Article 2 participate.

TITLE II: IMPLEMENTATION OF NATIONAL MONETARY INTEROPERABILITY

Chapter 1: Establishment of the National Monetary Switch

Article 5:

The National Monetary Switch is the common technical platform intended to ensure interoperability between payment systems established or operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Article 6:

The regulated entities referred to in Article 2 are obliged to connect to the National Monetary Switch.

Article 7:

The National Monetary Switch is subject to the regulation and supervision of the Central Bank of Congo.

Article 8:

The National Monetary Switch is the designated integration platform for the participation of regulated entities in interoperability operations by card or any digital means in regional or international payment systems.

The connection of the National Monetary Switch to regional or international payment systems is subject to a prior risk analysis, the conclusions of which are made available to the Central Bank of Congo.

Payment systems established abroad wishing to have a regulated entity participate must first connect to the National Monetary Switch.

Chapter 2: Governance of the National Monetary Switch

Article 9:

The National Monetary Switch is managed by an economic interest grouping named "Groupement Monétique Interbancaire du Congo", acronym GMIC, constituted in accordance with the Uniform Act on commercial companies and economic interest groupings of OHADA.

Article 10:

Regulated entities are required to participate in the co-ownership of the Groupement Monétique Interbancaire du Congo.

Chapter 3: Clearing and Settlement of Monetary Operations

Article 11:

Monetary operations routed through the National Monetary Switch are cleared on a multilateral basis.

Private payment systems ensuring the routing of transactions transmit them to the National Monetary Switch for clearing purposes.

Article 12:

The settlement of interoperable payment orders by card or any other electronic payment instrument is carried out within the SAREC system of the Central Bank of Congo, by the dumping of a unique clearing file generated by the National Monetary Switch.

In the absence of a settlement account in the SAREC system, participants must conclude indirect participation agreements with the SAREC system for the settlement of their transactions. In this case, they inform the manager of the National Monetary Switch by transmitting a copy of the agreement concluded for this purpose.

Article 13:

The manager of the National Monetary Switch sets up a guarantee fund constituted of contributions from each participant, which can be used as a last resort to cover the risk of default by a participant.

The constitution and management mode of this guarantee fund are agreed upon between the manager and the participants, and subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Congo.

Chapter 4: Fees

Article 14:

Fees, commissions, and other charges related notably to participation in the National Monetary Switch, the processing and settlement of transactions, as well as their distribution, are agreed upon between the manager and the participants.

Article 15:

Participation fees are notably a function of the number of memberships and the operational cost of the interoperability system.

Article 16:

Commissions on transactions are billed as follows:

• the commission on cash withdrawal operations at an ATM/GAB/POS or an electronic money distribution agent is paid by the issuer at the client's charge;
• the commission on transactions at an acceptor or merchant is paid by the acquirer at the merchant's charge;
• the commission on transfers between participants is paid by the client's sending institution. This includes bank to wallet/wallet to bank operations or transfers between electronic money institutions.

Chapter 5: Obligations of the Manager of the National Monetary Switch

Article 17:

The manager is obliged to:

• guarantee equitable and non-discriminatory access to its services to all participants;
• guarantee the continuous and uninterrupted functioning of the National Monetary Switch;
• set up a multi-format exchange platform capable of managing various payment modes, while allowing their integration with local, regional, and international payment systems;
• take all measures to prevent the use of the network for money laundering and terrorist financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction;
• make APIs and specifications available to participants to allow them to access its services;
• establish adequate security procedures to ensure the safety and security of information;
• have an activity continuity plan approved by the Central Bank of Congo;
• provide participants with daily operation statements and other statistics for reconciliation and strategic planning purposes;
• provide the Central Bank of Congo/Direction in charge of the supervision of payment systems with any useful information to ensure the proper functioning of the system, notably its performance, the conduct of participants, and quantitative data such as volumes and values of transactions as well as other relevant information.

Article 18:

The manager must set up a risk management device for all risks inherent to the functioning of the system.

To this end, it must set up effective and clearly defined rules and procedures to manage the default of a participant. These rules and procedures must allow it, in the event that a participant defaults, to continue to fulfill its obligations vis-à-vis participants who have not defaulted.

The manager drafts an annual activity report intended for the Central Bank of Congo, in which it formulates recommendations and opinions on its management and the functioning of the National Monetary Switch. A chapter of this report must be devoted to the description of the complaint handling device, including the computer tool used to centralize and track complaints as well as activities carried out in this regard.

Chapter 6: Obligations of Participants

Article 19:

Participants are required to:

• ensure the existence of sufficient provision in their settlement accounts within the SAREC system, to cover their payment orders and those of indirect participants under their responsibility;
• observe the operating rules set up by the manager of the National Monetary Switch, notably those relating to the financial default risk coverage mechanism;
• make the required changes within their infrastructure for their participation in the National Monetary Switch under the best security conditions;
• make the necessary modifications to guarantee the acceptability of issued payment instruments;
• pay the fees, commissions, and other charges provided for in the tariff conditions of the manager of the National Monetary Switch;
• display the brand of the payment scheme of the National Monetary Switch on the vitreography of their payment terminals.

No participant may represent, through indirect participation agreements referred to in Article 12 of this Instruction, more than 25% of institutions not having a settlement account in the SAREC system.

Chapter 7: Management and Settlement of Complaints

Article 20:

The manager is required to set up an internal control device dedicated to dispute management and steered at a sufficiently high level of governance to resolve participant claims as simply and quickly as possible.

Article 21:

The device set up by the manager must notably include:

• a unit responsible for the reception, processing, and tracking of complaints and/or claims;
• well-defined procedures for the processing of complaints and the information of participants;
• a computer system allowing the centralization and tracking of complaint processing.

Article 22:

Any participant may open a complaint with the manager, who is required to provide a follow-up to this claim within a period not exceeding thirty (30) calendar days.

In the event of non-satisfaction with the follow-up reserved for its complaint by the manager, the participant may seize the Central Bank of Congo for arbitration.

The Central Bank of Congo also has a maximum period of thirty (30) calendar days to provide a follow-up to the claim of the concerned participant.

Article 23:

If for any reason, a payment operation generates a refund, the principal amount and fees are refunded to the client.

Chapter 8: Security Standards

Article 24:

The manager and participants must ensure that all devices/software used to transmit financial data within the network are compliant with EMV standards.

Article 25:

The manager and participants must at all times be compliant with PCI-DSS standards on data security.

TITLE III: TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 26:

Non-compliance by the institutions referred to in Article 2 with the provisions of this Instruction exposes offenders to the sanctions provided for by the legal and regulatory provisions in this matter.

Article 27:

Regulated entities have a period of six (6) months to comply with this Instruction.

Regulated entities that are not yet connected to the National Monetary Switch must finalize integration works with the Central Bank of Congo before the expiration of the aforementioned period.

The Central Bank of Congo plays the role of the operator of the National Monetary Switch until the creation of the GMIC.

Article 28:

This Instruction enters into force six (6) months after the date of its signature and repeals all prior provisions contrary to it.

Done in Kinshasa, on 04 SEP. 2024

MALANGU KABEDI MBUYI
Governor