By Beatrice Pauline Otieno
The National Bank of Ethiopia makes it compulsory to adopt the digital payment QR Code Standard effective 1st December 2024 for all Payment Service Providers. The National Switch and Ethswitch under the supervision of the National Bank of Ethiopia will be in charge of operating the necessary infrastructure that will enable the QR Codes to run smoothly.
The QR Code implementation’s purpose is to unite the many existing payment QR codes and ensure that all payment service providers give their QR Codes to users according to the regulations set by the National Bank. This mandatory requirement follows the official launch of Ethiopia’s Interoperable QR payment system in April at the Ethiopian Digital Payment Conference.
The usage of interoperable QR Codes will enable efficient and reliable payment solutions, unlike Traditional QR Codes that are inefficient. The standardized codes guarantee secure merchant payment to any partaking financial provider. The QR Codes are projected to provide a reliable payment experience to all users and merchants, thus increasing accessibility to the already existing digital payment solutions.
The drive comes following the enactment of The National Digital Payment Strategy between 2021-2024 by the National Bank of Ethiopia. Significant evolutions have taken place since the approval of the digital plan. More than 2.7 million transactions have resulted in 9.7 trillion birrs since that time. The implementation of the mandatory QR Code is further projected to cause an increase in secure digital transactions.
Apart from improved transactions due to digital strategies, solutions such as mobile banking and internet banking have instigated over 198 million accounts countrywide. This development signifies a strong desire for cashless transactions, owing to the mandatory regulations in place and a clear need to adapt to the usage of QR Codes when conducting digital transactions.
As the new regulation is set to take effect next month, The National Bank of Ethiopia will be in control to ensure all service providers adhere to the Standardized QR Code.
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