New Sri Lanka Interbank Payment System goes live

LankaClear has upgraded the Sri Lanka Interbank Payment System (SLIPS) to facilitate transactions which would enable customers to receive funds on the same day through SLIPS. This is in line with the Central Bank’s objective of moving towards much more efficient electronic fund transfer systems and away from the paper based instruments.

The environment in which commercial transactions takes place keeps on changing which requires constant upgrading of the national payment system infrastructure to meet the market demand. In recent years, the advances in information technology have paved the way for much more efficient, automated and secure payment systems facilitating on-line real time electronic fund transfers.

The migration to on-line electronic fund transfers has resulted in higher operational efficiency, cost efficiency, greater reliability and security of financial transactions.

In addition to the same day clearing of transactions, the new system facilitates online submission of the transaction files by the participating banks with a high level of security through Digital Signing of the transaction messages.

LankaClear, which is the national clearing house, envisages that customers will use the new system to make bill payments, third party account-to-account transfers and that corporate organizations such as stock-brokers and insurance companies will use the system to make payments to their customers as well as for payment collection in an efficient and cost effective manner.

Why it is so important to shield your PIN at ATMs

According to E.A.S.T. (European ATM Security Team) the very first thing a cardholder should do is to protect his/her PIN. The video below reveals how criminals can get hold of your four-digit PIN when you use an ATM that they have targeted. However, as the video shows, by simply shielding the keypad with your free hand, keys, wallet or purse, you can easily stop a criminal from finding out your PIN. Watch the video to see what they see.

Should UK banks be broken up?

The BBC's Giles Dilnot asked people in the City of London for their views about plans to split up some banks in the UK. The reform is one of a number of options being considered by the Independent Commission on Banking.
 
 

Smart rolls out mobile banking to 50 remote rural communities

In the Philippines Smart Communications (Smart) has rolled out its mobile commerce services to close to 50 remote rural communities under its Island Activations Program (IAP).
IAP is an initiative which aims to provide mobile based financial services to remote communities that have limited or no access to banking services.

Smart said that it has set up Smart Money Centers in remote, underserved communities, to spur entrepreneurial opportunities and economic growth.

These Smart Money Centers will allow island-based micro-finance institutions (MFIs) to perform money transfers using Smart Money--the world’s first reloadable payment card linked to a mobile phone.

Aside from mobile money transfers, the IAP enables island residents to perform e-load purchases, bill and utility payments and other micro purchases, all via mobile.

The program was piloted in 2008 in Polillo Island, Quezon Province when the island’s financial channels were cut off.

The expansion of this program is being done in partnership with Seed Finance, a credit provider to MFIs and small enterprises and several MFI Network Organizations like MFI Councils in Mindanao.

Through Smart Money, MFIs are able to provide mobile-based financial services to about 200,000 households or close to 1.8 million Filipinos who inhabit the remote islands activated by Smart.

"The IAP has helped us position ourselves as a provider of enabling platforms that will help MFIs better serve their clients in even the most remote communities," Danilo Mojica, Smart Wireless Consumer Division head said.

He said that they are hopeful that through the Smart Money-powered mobile phone, unbanked and underbanked Filipinos may gain access to funds and opportunities that will help improve the way they live.

A recent study conducted by McKinsey & Co. for GSMA and CGAP stated that while mobile penetration in the Philippines is about 80 percent, banking penetration only stands at 35 percent, thus leaving 21 million mobile subscribers without bank accounts.

Smart’s share of the mobile market is over 50 percent, with 45.3 million subscribers on its network as of June 2010.

Ghanaian cheque codeline clearing system celebrates first birthday

Chief Executive of Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement System (GhIPSS), Fred France, speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, noted that the Cheque Codeline Clearing system (CCC) introduced in September 2009 has enhanced customer service delivery.

Mr France said GhIPSS and the banks are working to perfect the art so that in the near future cheques would be cleared within 24 hours. The CCC was initially introduced in the Accra-Tema Settlement Zone, before it was extended nationwide.

"Today you pay in a cheque and in a matter of two days, your account is credited and that helps one to plan," Mr France said, adding that it would have been unacceptable for businesses or individuals to wait for a week or two just to clear a cheque.

Mr France assured the pubic that the CCC was robust and secured and encouraged them to patronize cheques to reduce the pressure on the cedi notes and save the country the huge sums of money used to replace the worn out ones.

He thanked the banks as well as the savings and loans companies for their co-operation and urged them to do more to ensure a total transformation of the financial sector.

He said GhIPSS would continue to roll out products and services to ensure that the financial sector is transformed in line with modern trends globally.

GhIPSS was established by the Bank of Ghana to help modernize the payment system. It has so far introduced the e-zwich and CCC and will soon introduce the Automated Clearing House.

Nigerian Central Bank encourages seamless central switch payment system

The directive by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that banks should migrate to the Nigerian Central Switch has elicited reactions from operators in the sector. According to them, the directive will affect the business of certain existing payment operators.

In a circular titled ‘Interoperability and Interconnectivity of the Payment System Infrastructure in Nigeria' to all banks, switching companies, and other parties in the Nigerian payment system, the Central Bank has directed that all automated teller machines (ATM) and point of sale (POS) terminals should be configured to accept and process all payment card schemes and other electronic payment instruments that are acceptable in Nigeria.

"The deadline for compliance is December 1, 2010," the circular added. The aim, according to the CBN, is to achieve an effective and robust payment system in line with best practice.

The CBN maintains that the Nigerian Central Switch (NCS) system exists to address the issue of interconnectivity and is insisting that private switches shall not connect directly to one another.

All banks have been instructed to adjust "their switching systems connect to the Nigerian central switch and only one other private switch of their choice as determined by the type of business they are involved in. All participants with multiple connections to private switches have been given until December 1, 2010 to terminate multiple connections.

Many seen this directive as a policy somersault. A number of operators who spoke off the record said the directive was contrary to expectations in a free market economy.

"Nothing I am going to say about this matter is going to be complimentary about the CBN," said a staff member of one of the new switching companies.

"A few years after licensing more switching companies and collecting huge sums from them, you now create another company that all other switching companies must connect to."

Another industry operator said the NCS does not have the technology to play the role that the Central Bank is thrusting upon it.

"Right now, even the central switch is not yet in full operation. They do not have the capacity and they are yet to fully take off. Now, how can the Central Bank lump every payment system operator into a central switch, when our operations are different. Each one has its own business model with its own area of specialization."

He said the directive will end up limiting the options available to consumers.

However, Evans Woherem, executive director, operations and IT for Unity Bank, said Nigeria was in need of a central switching system in order to enhance interoperability in the payment system.

"I think it is a good thing because of the need for proper convergence. There was that need for proper interconnectivity and the way the country chose to do it was through the NIBSS (Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System)," he said.

Evans Woherem, who was the former chairman of Interswitch, said there was nothing wrong if the CBN reverses an earlier decision, so long as it was for the common good.

"I think it is understandable that you might proceed on a particular path only to realize that you ought to have done it differently. l think it is okay. It shows that we are making progress," he said.

Visa starts subway tickets mobile payments tests

Visa has started participating in a test program that will enable passengers pay for some New York subway tickets by tapping a credit card or a smartphone at the turnstile.

The program, which was initially begun by MasterCard and exclusive to MasterCard users, has now been opened to Visa.

The program allows passengers to buy a subway, bus or train ticket by tapping or waving their credit or debit card, or a sticker attached to the back of their phone, over a turnstile electronic reader, instead of buying a separate ticket.

It was announced last week that consumers will get an ability to use their Visa cards, or in certain cases their smartphones, to buy some subway, train or bus tickets in New York and New Jersey.

Visa has also commenced a separate test of contactless transit payments in Los Angeles. Under this program, passengers will have to purchase special prepaid debit cards, which they can tap to ride a subway or bus, and which can also be used to buy goods or services from other retailers.