Nine months to deploy the National Payment Switch

The CEO of Banking Payment Context (BPC) and the National Coordinator of the Economic Transformation Project for Inclusive Growth has set a nine-month deadline to establish the National Payment Switch.

The National Payment Switch in Madagascar will be provided by the fintech company PBC, based in Switzerland. The PIC3 will cover the technical services of the provider and the financing of the assistance. That entails a close collaboration between the BPC structure and the PIC project to deploy this initiative, with technical support from the Banky foiben’i Madagasikara (BFM) agents.

Following some delays, the project, which was scheduled to be operational in 2021 and then in 2022, will finally be realized. The Ministry of Digital Development, Digital Transformation, Posts, and Telecommunications (MNDPT) announces in its Digital Strategic Plan (PSN) 2023-2028 that 25 % of financial institutions will be connected to the National Switch this year. Then, 100 % of these structures will be interconnected by 2028.

« This centralized mechanism is designed to facilitate electronic transactions among various actors in the Malagasy financial system. Its role is to route, process, and secure electronic payments made by companies, banks, electronic money institutions, microfinance institutions, and other financial actors », explains this project funded by the World Bank. This National Payment Switch offers microfinance institutions new development opportunities in less-served areas.